Rise of a Hero
by KEBABREMOVER1804
Summary: -The first book in a series of 4- Lucas Shepard escapes the gangs on Earth to create a new life for himself in the Alliance Marines. This first book explores Shepard's life with the gangs on Earth and his pre-Normandy military service from his perspective. (Mass Effect belongs to Bioware)
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

 _December 4th, 2157_

 _Philadelphia, Earth, Human Systems Alliance_

The rain pounded on the windows of the Shepard household. The small rowhouse was silent, and most of the Shepard family was asleep. Richard was asleep on the couch with the TV on, while his wife cleaned the kitchen. The boys, James and Lucas, were asleep in their rooms upstairs. The news of colonial disputes and negotiations was playing on the TV screen.

Richard Shepard was a drunk and a gambler. Word had it that he had once been an average businessman, and a good person. He lost it all years ago, and now he was unemployed, and owed a lot of debt to the gangs. Many of those debts had not been payed, and there would be no way to pay them any time soon. He was unclean, unshaven, and he was already losing his blond hair. He was 46 years old.

Monica Shepard, Richard's wife, was the only one in the family with a job. She worked a minimum wage job in the city as a janitor at a local restaurant, and it was her money that Richard seemed to have an addiction to gambling away. She wanted to move offworld to one of the colonies, like Eden Prime, but she never had the money to do it. She used to love Richard, and she wanted to still love him, but he had changed years ago. She yearned for a divorce, but she never had the heart to get it. She had the appearance of being 50 years old, but in reality, she was only 39.

The Shepards really couldn't afford much. They had cheap furniture, cheap silverware, cheap technology, and cheap lives. It would be a miracle if they had enough food for all of them for a week. However, that miracle always slipped away from them when Richard went out drinking and gambling his life away. Although their neighborhood was one of the poorer ones as well, they were worse off than the other families. Richard used to work downtown, but his problems forced him to leave the job. Now, the city was a few miles away, the skyline being a reminder of the chances they squandered.

3 year old Lucas and 8 year old James were sleeping upstairs when 2 cars stopped outside their house. James woke up, climbed out of bed, and checked the window. The men getting out had many guns, and were walking towards the house. James snuck into Lucas' room, grabbed him from his crib, and tip-toed downstairs. The men were getting closer, and were calling for Richard to come outside. James snuck into the backyard with Lucas.

James rocked Lucas back and forth, trying to keep him quiet under the tree in the garden. The rain was dripping off the leaves and onto both of them, but James didn't care. Yelling began coming from the house. James could hear his mother yelling at the men to leave Richard alone, but he couldn't hear what the others were saying. The yelling increased in volume, and James tried to keep Lucas from crying. A few minutes later. Shots rang out from inside the house, the gunshots illuminating the once dark house. James opened the fence gate, and began running as fast as he could, covering Lucas with his own body from the rain and the cold of the night. He saw the neighborhood slowly light up, and the sound of sirens in the distance. James kept running, with Lucas crying in his arms.


	2. Chapter One: Reds

**Chapter One: Red**

 _March 23rd, 2168_

 _Philadelphia, Earth, Human Systems Alliance_

I've never really thought about my parents' death that much. At school, my friends sometimes ask, "Lucas, what happened to your parents?" I always try to shrug them off, or change the topic. All I know is that because they died, I'm with the 10th St. Reds. I've always heard in public and in school that gangs are just a bunch of hooligans and criminals. But not the Reds, hell no. The Reds are a band of brothers, all bearing the hardship of life. I'm treated like I'm an adult even though I'm 13, which makes me feel like I actually matter. They've always helped me out whenever I'm in trouble in any way, and they'd do anything for each other. However, they'll help me as long as I help them. But that's just doing each other favors, you know?

My room here in the gang house is honestly better than anything else I could have right now. I've got power, water, a computer, a guitar, and all the books I can read. The only problem I have is that the kitchen is right below me, and that's just where they happen to love gathering and yelling at each other. The worst part is that all of this happens in the middle of the night, which deprives me of sleep. But I don't complain. After all, these guys gave me a home and a reason to live.

My leg was numb as I tried to raise myself out of the squeaky bed. Last night, I had some nightmare. Really vivid, too. Something about machines killing everyone, I don't know. The dream is already fading. I checked my omnitool, and found that it was 5:03. I dragged myself out of bed, went over to the corner of my room, and put on a t-shirt and some gray shorts. I checked my omnitool again, checking the news and such, when finch yelled up the stairs at me. "HEY SMARTS, YOU AWAKE MAN?" I yelled back down, "YEAH DUDE, GIVE ME A COUPLE OF MINUTES, OK?" I opened the door, and dragged myself down the stairs.

The kitchen, like I said before, is where the rest of the gang loves to gather. They were all talking to each other and having breakfast, a welcome sight in the morning. Finch and Bone were in the corner talking about something, but I really didn't care. I grabbed some toast on the counter, and some milk from the fridge, and sat down. As I began to eat, Finch began walking over to me, with Bone slowly behind. I was wondering what they wanted to talk to me about. Finch frazzled my shortish, dirty blond hair. "Good morning, man." I raised my eyebrow, still questioning what he wanted in my mind. "Good morning dude. What do you need?" Finch looked over at Bone, and looked back down at me. "We have some... business... to take care of later. We can't make sure you don't get jumped after you leave school. But don't worry, man." He began walking over to the closet down the hall. "I got something for ya."

Finch was like the brother I never had. He always looked out for me, and made sure that I never got in trouble. He's 22 years old, with mild Asian features and short, black hair. He does a lot of stuff with me, even if he doesn't understand half of what I do. To the school system, he's my "guardian", but to me, he's family.

I saw him open the closet door, and pull a couple things out. He walked back, and set them down on the table in front of me. A pistol, and two thermal clips. Ok, I think he may have gone a little overboard with his choice in defense, but I won't question. "Here's something to keep you safe, kid." He walked back over to the closet, grabbed his coat, and zipped up. He patted me on the back, and went back to talking with Bone in the corner. I looked around me before heading upstairs to get my things. My God, I never noticed how strong everyone actually looks. I'd never beat any of them in a fight. I can see why the Zodiacs never wanted to fight with us.

I pulled open my drawer, and pulled out my usual clothes, usual clothes being a cleaner t-shirt, blue jeans, and a grey hoodie. I looked around the room for my homework, and found it under my bed. I reached under, and stuffed it into my backpack. On my desk near the window, I realised that I accidentally left the story I was writing on the desk. I grabbed it quickly, and stuffed it into my backpack. I checked around the room again before I turned off my light, and closed the blinds.

I walked into the bathroom, and checked myself in the mirror as I brushed my teeth and washed my face. I combed my hair a bit, and checked my face for any stubble. I felt around for a while, and then I found it. Just a little bit, but it was there. Sweet. I'm on my way to having the sickest ass mutton chops in existence.

I waited by the door for Finch and Bone to finish whatever they were doing, and when they finally came over to me, I opened the door. The three of us stepped out into the vibrant city of Philly.


	3. Chapter Two: Incident

**Chapter 2: Incident**

The walk to school was uneventful, with Finch, Bone and I talking the whole way there. When we got there, the Sun was already coming up. Finch and Bone both said their goodbyes to me, and began walking back home.

Now, I know that everyone seems to think that city schools are pretty shitty, and that everyone who goes are the bad kids of society. That may be true in other cities, but not here in Philly. Philadelphia City High isn't one of _those_ schools. It's surprisingly neat, organized, clean, and the students are genuinly good people. Even the few alien students aren't complete asses.

When I get to homeroom, there usually aren't that many people there, if there are any at all. But today, one of my friends was already here. Venok Artelius, a Turian student, was sitting next to my desk. Venok is a bright kid, smart for an alien. A while back, I asked why his parents would ever want to move here, but he never responded, so I guess that means that he doesn't want to talk about it. Why they'd move here so soon after first contact, I have no clue. They have to have been attacked at least a few times by extremists. However, Venok has been my friend since he moved in. Usually, he's really shy and quiet, but around friends, he's a great guy. Finch warned me about aliens and such, saying that they can't be trusted and that they "always have something against humans". But I disagree with him on only this one issue.

"Hey, Lucas!" He called to me. He seemed too energetic this morning, especially because he's always super tired in the morning. I can see why, I mean getting used to Earth must be pretty hard. But why he was so energetic, I didn't know. "Hey, Venok..." I mumbled grogilly. I was beyond tired all of a sudden, like the energy I had earlier was fading away. But I guess that's what I get for forgetting my coffee. I sat down next to him. "What's up?" I tiredly said.

Venok seemed really excited for something. "Lucas, I can't believe it. My parents actually convinced my cousin that moving to Earth isn't a bad idea!" I was so confused. A Turian moving to Earth? A good idea? Were they out of their minds? "Venok, I hate to break it to you, but it's a terrible idea. Do your parents know how many people... uh... 'dislike' Turians here?" The gleam in Venok's eyes seemed to fade away. "What do you mean...?" My God, Venok can be thick sometimes. "I mean that he has a chance of being seriously hurt if he moves here. Try telling him that moving here is a terrible idea for his own safety." Venok's expression of joy was gone. He pulled up his omnitool, and typed something into it. "Ok, I trust you. Maybe you're right. Thanks, Lucas."

I pulled out my paper copy of "Atlas Shrugged" from my backpack, and began reading. Sweet Jesus, I have 700 more pages to go? My God. Why am I even reading this? Objectivism is kind of a stupid concept anyway. Despite this, I still read it. A few pages later, I noticed Venok looking over at my book, and reading a bit from it. "You interested?" "Why do you still use paper books? Wouldn't it be easier for you just to use your omnitool or a datapad?" Why do I always seem to have to explain this to _everyone_? "Reading from a screen strains my eyes, plus I love the feeling of having paper in my hand." Venok nodded, and went back to using his omnitool.

By now, a lot more people had shown up, and were already busy with their own conversations. It was almost time to start, and I had a feeling that it was going to be another average school day...

I was right. It was just another average day at school, and nothing interesting happened in the slightest. Anyone who knows me knows that I hate monotony. I had forgotten that Finch and Bone weren't coming to pick me up as usual, and like an idiot I was just standing in front of the school waiting for them. I went around back to the place where I hid the gun, and retrieved it, as well as the thermal clip. I shoved both in my pockets, and started down the road home.

I love the the city. They sound of cars, the yelling of crowds, the height and beauty of the skyscrapers. I hate when that beauty is interrupted. I checked my omnitool for the time. 4:05. I was overschedule, and Finch'll really have my ass if I'm too late. I began to pick up the pace.

A few blocks down, when nearing a street corner, I heard a whisper from inside an alley to my right. I thought I heard it calling for help, and being the good kid I am, I decided that I would. I know, believe it or not, a gang kid like me is a good person. However, I'm not stupid in the slightest. I knew that there was a chance that this could be an ambush, so I grabbed the pistol out of my pocket and unlocked it, the gun being readied with a series of satisfying whirs and clicks. I grabbed the thermal clip from my other pocket, and loaded it into the pistol. I left the gun in my right hand as I continued down the alley. The voice just kept whispering for help, and I knew that there was a pretty good chance that this could be an ambush. But being the good person I am, I just kept going.

The voice stopped when I got close to it. The sounds of the city enveloped the air. My heart was pumping faster, and I clutched the gun harder, raising it so that I was staring down it's sights. I began to hear footsteps down the alley. They kept getting louder, and I realized that there were two people. I began to back up, still aiming down the alley. By now, light was beginning to shine on them. Holy shit, they looked tough. I looked at the coats they were wearing. Goddammit. Zodiacs. I had faced them before with Finch and the others, but I'd never faced them before alone.

They looked at each other for a moment, and began to charge me. Holy shit, was I scared. Now, you'd expect me to have killed people before. Again, I'm not as bad as you think. I've beaten people to _near_ death, but only in self-defense. And this first kill? It'll stay with me for the rest of my life.

I pulled the trigger while aiming at the one to the left, and watched as he dropped, blood dripping to the ground from the wound. His eyes wound back into his head, and I realized that I had scored a headshot. His lifeless body hit the ground with a loud thud, but the other Zodiac continued to charge. I tried to aim towards him, but he tackled me to the ground, and threw my gun to the side. He raised his right arm, and slugged me across the face. I felt blood rushing into my mouth, and spit some into his face. He flinched a little, but that was it.

Don't think I'll die here. I was prepared for this kind of thing about a year ago. You see, I pirated one of those military melee combat programs onto my omnitool, which, to put it simply, makes my omnitool into a short sword. I always have a shortcut to it whenever I go out alone, just in case.

The Zodiac raised his fist again, but before he brought it down into my face, I jabbed into the side of his neck with my omnitool. Blood spurted out of the wound, he crumbled, and collapsed to my side. I heard him gasp for one last breath, and then there was nothing.

I got up as fast as I could. What the hell just happened?! I looked around at the scene before me. The guy I shot was dead, and his blood already pooling up beneath him. The guy I stabbed was dead, too, with blood seeping out of his neck from the stab wound. There was blood all over me, too. I wiped the blood off of my face, and spat out my own blood from my mouth. My left arm was completely red from stabbing that one Zodiac. I felt like I was gonna hurl and pass out, so I grabbed my gun and backpack, and ran as fast as I could home before the police arrived.


	4. Chapter Three: Recovery

**Chapter 3: Recovery**

 _March 24th, 2168_

 _Philadelphia, Earth, Human Systems Alliance_

Finch had both congratulated me and chewed me out for killing those Zodiacs. He said he was proud that I had stood up to the Zodiacs, being 13 and all, but what pissed him off was the police investigation that would follow. Now, he had to take time out of his days to make sure that the police never investigated the Reds.

It was the weekend. Finally, I don't have anything to worry about. I can clear my head and relax. I was lying on the couch, trying to do just that, and the news was on the TV. Sometimes, I like having the TV on when I sleep. It's nice white noise for sleeping, you know. Anyway, I'm nearly asleep, when the news begins to play the story of the incident from yesterday.

"Yesterday, two young men were found dead in an alleyway near 17th and 22nd..." Young men? My God, I knew there was bias in the media, but I didn't know that they liked to call criminals "innocent young men". The news continued. "They were both found brutally murdered in the alleyway last night, when a passerby found their bodies while searching the nearby dumpster. 18 year-old Brian Calhoun and 19 year-old Jason Stillwell were..." I drowned out the news in my head. My God. That young? They were only 5 and 6 years older than me, respectfully.

I began seeing images of the scene in my head. Calhoun's eyes rolling back into his head as he dropped to the ground. His blood pooled around his head as he lay still, instantly killed by the shot. Stilwell taking his last breath next to be, as his blood was sprayed onto me.

I shook my head. I wanted to hurl, cry, and just leave existence. I turned off the TV as fast as I could, and stumbled up to my room. None of this felt real at all. If I try hard enough, I might just wake up with a family, a real family, and a life free from crime. As I lay on my bed trying, none of it worked. It was real, alright. I'm a murderer. I cried myself to sleep.

 _March 25th, 2168_

I woke up feeling really tired. It was still dark out. I checked my omnitool. Holy shit, it was 3 in the morning. I better get back to sleep before Finch whoops my ass again. I closed my eyes, and rolled over. I thought I heard footsteps nearing my door, but I didn't know what was real or not any more. The door opened, and Finch whispered to me. "Wake up, Smarts."

I opened my eyes, and rolled over to see him. "What is it man?" I groaned. "I've got somethin' to show ya." I sat up, rubbed my eyes, and raised myself out of bed. I still hadn't changed out of yesterday's clothes, so there was no need to get changed. I went into the corner, and slipped my shoes on.

Finch waved to me to follow him. So I did, and we snuck downstairs, careful not to awake the rest of the gang. He opened the front door quietly, and we left the house to walk in the cold, dark night, with only the lights of the streets to guide us.

As we were walking down the street, Finch began talking. "Smarts, I know how you feel, killing your first couple of guys and all. I've gone through the same things." Of course he has. He's the leader of the Reds, of course he has to have killed some people. But the voice I heard wasn't tough or rough, like he usually is with everyone else. This was a voice I hadn't heard in a long time. It was sympathetic. I didn't know where we were going, or why we were going wherever we were going. "Where are we going?" He looked down at me. "You'll see."

A few minutes later, we were at an abandoned warehouse a few blocks away. I've passed by this place a few times before, but I've never actually _seen_ the place, you know? Finch put his hand on my back. "Come inside."

The interior felt ominous, yet beautiful at the same time. The plants growing over everything gave off this vibe that I can't even begin to describe. Everything was dimly lit by the moonlight shining in through the large windows above us. "See that over there?" Finch pointed to a corner. There were stains all over that corner. Where they blood stains, or something else?

He stared at that corner for a while, before he said, "That's where my first kill was." He slowly walked over to the corner. He stared down at the bloodstain in front of him, bent down, and touched it. He closed his eyes, like he was in some sort of prayer. He stood up again, and opened his eyes. "I still remember," he started. He paused for a moment. "I still remember the day that it happened. It was a nice sunny day, ya know?" His voice sounded weaker. Like he was opening up to me. "I'm with the other boys here, smoking a joint or two, having a good time. I was only 15." He looked down at his feet, and paused for a moment. I heard him sniffling a bit, so I came over and patted him on the back. "All of a sudden, there were screams, and yelling, and I had zero idea what was going on. All of a sudden, a thug tackled me to the ground right..." He pointed to the bloodstain. "...there. I thought I was gonna die, man..." I noticed that he was crying, so I asked him, "You ok, dude?" He wiped his eyes. "Yeah, I'm ok."

He took a deep breath. "I took the knife from my boot, and stabbed him right between the eyes man. I'll never forget the fear in his eyes, the surprise, and all the hurt. He didn't even scream. He just breathed out..." He broke down right in front of me, crying like I'd never seen before. I held him close to me, and he whispered to me. "I almost lost you a couple days ago. Almost the same way I nearly went out, and I'd hate myself forever for it. You're like a brother to me, Smarts. Don't leave. Ever." I noticed that I was tearing up too, and I realized that the Reds were my brothers. They would always have my back, and would help me whenever I needed it.


	5. Chapter Four: Getting By

**Chapter 4: Getting By**

 _June 9th, 2168_

It's been a couple months since I killed those Zodiacs. Nothing major changed since then, except that I carry a pistol with me at all times outside of school. I just don't want a repeat of that incident, you know? School ended a couple days ago, so I have no real incentive to go outside other than for gang business.

I was laying on my bed, playing some random songs on my guitar, trying to kill the time. I could be playing some games right now, because that'd kill the time faster. But something's relaxing about guitar, so I didn't stop playing. In the middle of another song, I heard a pounding at my door. I stopped playing. "What do you want?" I asked.

The door opened. Bone had been the one knocking. Bone is a 20 year-old muscular kind of guy from the Moon. His family moved here when he was 6, but they were killed in a car crash when he was 10. Kind of connects us, now that I think about it. Now, I don't know where he picked up that Irish accent, because it sure isn't from any of us. Drinking maybe? I don't know. He always spends time at that pub down the road...

Bone peeked his head in. "Yeah, there's some Turian kid outside, said he knows you?" I sighed. How in the hell did Venok find out where I lived? This is the first time I've ever had contact with any of my friends from school outside of school. "Ok, thanks dude." He left, and went back down the stairs.

I sat for a moment in my bed, and then got up. I slipped on my shoes, and left my room. When I opened the front door, Venok was there. I saw him smile, with a hint of surprise in his eyes. "Lucas! I thought I had the wrong house for a moment!" I like Venok and all, but why is he here? "Yeah... you expected me to live somewhere better?" He just looked at me for a moment, and then said, "Well... yeah, you act like you live downtown." Out of instinct, I began walking. He followed me.

Further down the street, Venok finally spoke again. "So... how are you?" "I looked over at him. "Pretty good, you?" He was smiling again. "Great! What's it like living out here?" I was confused. "How did you even find out I live out here?" He chuckled a bit. "Easy! One day, I had to take a shortcut home, and it just so happened to go through here!" Oh yeah, I thought I had seen him across the street a few months ago. We crossed the street when the light turned green.

"So," He started again. "Who was that guy who answered the door? A brother? And why, when I asked for you, did he refer to you as 'Smarts'?" I slowed down a bit. I didn't want to explain this. Not to Venok, he's too innocent. Well, I have to, so... "Bone? He's not my brother. We're both in the Reds. Smarts was just a thing they called me since I started school, because I get good grades, and I'm the only person in the gang who goes to school." We had both stopped walking, and Venok was staring at me.

"You're in a gang?" He sounded a little worried. "You, the smartest kid in class, the good kid, in a gang?" He started nervously laughing. "Please tell me that's a joke." I stared at him for a moment. "I'm sorry. It's not a joke." Venok's smile disappeared for a moment, and he looked like he was thinking about something. His face lit up a bit again. "Woah! Have you ever done anything bad?" I looked away for a moment, and felt nervous. The scene of those Zodiacs came into my head again. I pushed it out before it could control my emotions again. "No, nothing major yet, just some lying to get into school."

Venok looked a little disappointed. I guess he expected me to be a big criminal or something. I looked back over at him, and said, "Where do you wanna go?" He looked up, and I could see that he was thinking hard. After a pause, he looked back at me. "I have no idea. What time is it?" I checked my omnitool. "It's 12:37. Grab something to eat?" Then it struck my mind. Shit. Where can I take him to eat? He can't eat any human food. "Of course! Where to?" He was pretty eager to eat. I scratched my head, and said, "Well, problem. I don't know any place that serves Dextro food in the city. You may have to go and get something from your place." He shrugged, like he had no problem with it. "Don't worry, I always get food from home when I'm out with friends. You wanna come with me?" "Ok, man. Sure."

A long walk later, and we were at a large apartment complex downtown. We stepped into the lobby, and Venok took me into the elevator. He pressed the button for the 12th floor, and the elevator began to speed up, ascending at incredible speeds. When we reached the 12th floor a few seconds later, he took me to apartment 1274. "This is a really neat place, man. Nothing like home." Venok chuckled. "This is nothing compared to Palaven, according to my parents." He took out a keycard from his pocket, and opened the door for me.

We both stepped inside. His parents weren't home, I assume that they were at work or doing something else. I have no clue where they'd ever get work here, but I probably shouldn't care. "Just hang around here, I'll get something from the kitchen." He walked around the corner, and I sat down in the living room. It was a nice view from up here, and the apartment itself had way more quality than home. How can he have this in 2 years only when I had the ganghouse for way longer? But whatever, his parents probably do really hard work.

He came out with a bag, and opened the front door again. "After you." We both stepped out, and took the elevator back downstairs. We left the building and stood out on the sidewalk wondering where we'd go to eat. Then, a great idea popped into my head. "I've got an idea. You haven't really lived in Philly if you haven't eaten at Lil' Tim's." Venok looked confused. "Lil' Tim's?" I realized that I had to explain to him what it was. "A great little diner nearby. Greatest food in the city. I'll show you the way."

It took us about half an hour to get to Lil' Tim's from Venok's place. When we got there, it was about 1:15. We stood outside looking at the place for a bit before Venok asked, "What's so special about this place?" I looked over at him before we walked in. "You'll see."

Now, going into Lil' Tim's is like getting a blast from the past. If you've seen those old diners with the '50s style, then you know what Lil' Tim's looks like. Just take one of those diners, and insert it into Philly 200 years later. On top of that, all of it's food isn't just automatically made. It's all handmade, and with natural ingredients, wherever they may be found.

Venok and I sat down at a booth near the front door. He had already opened his bag, and was eating whatever Turians ate while I ordered from the automatic menu. I ordered some classic French Toast, and waited for the confirmation of the order. I got some credits out of my back pocket, and set them off to the side of the table so I wouldn't forget to pay at the counter.

Venok and I sat there for a few minutes, him eating his own food while I sat there using my omnitool. After a while, I got bored, so I asked him, "What do you think of the place." He looked up from his food. "What?" I sighed, and repeated myself. "Well, I like it. Nice and small, and it gives off this feeling like there's nothing to worry about." I looked out the window. "Yeah, I guess that's why I like to come here..."

A bell rang at the counter, and my name was called. "I'll be right back." I got up from the booth, and walked over to the counter. A cook placed my food on the counter, and my God, the smell of French Toast is a welcome smell. I grabbed my plate, and the glass of milk I ordered, and walked back over to the booth.

I set the plate down at my spot, and noticed that he was staring at my food. I guess he smelled that glorious smell too, and I knew why he'd be curious. "What... what is that?" He questioned. I chuckled, and said to him, "Just the best food ever to grace Humanity. Classic French Toast." He kept looking at the French Toast. I could tell he was tempted to just grab the plate and swallow all of it. "Don't worry, I'll find some way to get a Dextro-safe kind of French Toast." He looked at me, an excited look in his eyes. "Really?!" He exclaimed. My God, he really wants it. I leaned in closer. "I swear on my dignity as a person." His face lit up, and we both continued eating.


	6. Chapter Five: Differing

**Chapter 5: Differing**

 _June 10th, 2168_

I'm going to say it right now, I never thought I'd have as much fun with someone outside the gang before. I've always done everything with Finch and/or Bone, but I'd never thought about actually hanging out with my school friends outside of school.

I woke up feeling refreshed and satisfied. I had a lot of fun yesterday, but the thing is that Finch can't know about it. He's pretty xenophobic, especially to Turians. He'd probably kill me for hanging out with Venok outside of school.

I rose from bed, opened the door, and went downstairs. As I was heading downstairs, I checked my omnitool. It was 9:30. I walked down the hall to the kitchen, and as usual, the gang was there talking before they went to do their own business. I grabbed some scrambled eggs, toast, and a glass of milk, and ate at the counter. I didn't feel like sitting down, and for once I actually wanted to get outside. I didn't notice it at first, but Finch was walking over to me through the crowd. He tapped on my shoulder, and firmly said, "Smarts, we need to talk."

I was wondering what was wrong. He took me out the back door, and into the backyard. I knew something was up when I saw Bone closing the shades inside. What did I do wrong? Finch looked me right in the eyes, and I could tell that he was pissed about something.

He slugged me across the face, and I fell down to the ground with a thud. He walked over to me as I tried to get up. My face hurt a lot, and I could taste blood in my mouth. He pulled me up, and gripped my shirt. "What the _FUCK_ where you thinking?!" I was genuinely confused. What did I do wrong?

He shook me hard. "What were you thinking?!" He asked me again. He was yelling at this point. I felt tears in my eyes. "What... what are you talking about...?" He hit me again, and I fell down to the ground. He harshly pulled me up again. "Why the _FUCK_ would you ever hang out with the ENEMY?!" I raised my eyebrow. "Are you talking about...?" His eyes got real firey. "Your Turian _'friend'_? Yes!" He let go of me, and I fell down again. My entire face hurt, and there was blood in my mouth.

Finch knelt down next to me. "How many fucking times have I told you that Turians are the scum of the galaxy? That they care nothing for humanity? Well? _HOW MANY TIMES?!_ " I didn't bother holding back my tears any more. "I'm sorry... I'm so sorry..." I muttered. Finch pulled me up again, but didn't hassle me around. "One of the boys saw you in that diner yesterday. With that Turian _fuck_. I'm gonna let it slide this once. But if I see you with him again, I will kill both that bastard and _you_ , for being a traitor to all humanity. Now go back inside, and think about everything I taught you. Reconsider who you hang out with." He shoved me towards the door, and opened it for me.

Everyone inside was silent, and staring at me. I walked slowly down the hall, and upstairs. Before I went in my room, I stopped in the bathroom. I looked at myself in the mirror. Two bruises, one on my right cheek, and one on my left cheek. There was blood on the corners of my mouth, and my face was red from crying. I spat out some blood in the sink, and washed my face. My hair, dirty blond a few minutes ago, had specks of dirt in it, and my blue eyes were exaggerated by the blood. I left the bathroom, collapsed on my bed, and cried myself to sleep.

At midnight, I was woken up to my door opening. I rolled over, trying to hide myself from whoever was entering the room. Someone grabbed my shoulder and shook me a bit. I instantly recognized it as Bone. I rolled back over to face him. "Hey, kid."

"Hey." I muttered. "You look better than you did yesterday. Bruises are already kinda fading." He sat at the foot of my bed. "I'm sorry for what happened yesterday, Smarts." I looked at him in the eyes. "Don't be. It's my fault." He looked away, and then back at me. "I don't think he's told you yet, so I'll tell you now." He paused for a moment. "His Dad had fought in the First Contact War and died. He was killed by a Turian platoon while trying to protect evacuating colonists. When Finch and his family got the news, he flipped shit. He loved his Dad like he was the only person who cared about him. To be honest, he really was. So, a few days later, Finch ran away from his family in Cleveland, and ended up here, with the Reds." He paused, and looked away. I continued to listen. "The thing is, I don't think he actually meant to hit you. He just remembered his Dad being killed, and doesn't want you gone either. He doesn't want you entagled with the Turians, or any other aliens. He wants you to stay safe."

Bone looked back at me. "Well, I better let you sleep. Hopefully, you'll understand what I was saying. If you need someone to talk to, just come talk to me down at Newman's Pub downtown." He walked out the door, and I was left in silence again.

 _June 11th, 2168_

I didn't want to get up. I don't want to face Finch today. If he just hits me more, I might as well just leave. However, I was compelled to get up. I raised myself out of bed reluctantly, and went downstairs. Surprisingly, everyone was gone. Except for Finch, who was leaning over the counter, drinking what looked like a beer. He noticed that I had walked in, and turned around. His eyes were red.

"I'm so sorry, Smarts." He embraced me, but I reeled back a little, expecting him to hit me at first. "It's just... I can't trust any Turians. They killed my Dad long ago, and I can't let them get you too." I was a bit confused, but then I remembered what Bone had said last night.

"It's ok, Finch." I let go from the embrace. "I get it. But not all Turians are that bad. Venok is an ok guy, and he doesn't want to kill me." Finch was already crying. "I should've let you explain. I shouldn't have hit you around, or yelled at you. I shouldn't have been that cruel." Finch walked down the hallway, and opened the front door. He looked at me one more time before he left. "It's ok if you hang out with that Venok kid. What I said yesterday was just out of anger. But he better not hurt you." He left, and closed the door behind him, leaving me alone in the ganghouse.


	7. Chapter Six: DW

**Chapter 6: "DW"**

 _August 12th, 2168_

Yesterday was pretty fun. Hung out with Venok again, but I still have to tell Finch every time I do. At this point, Finch should understand that Venok isn't about to kill me. I haven't gotten into any sort of trouble with him, have I?

I got up from bed aching all over. I don't know why, but it might've been because I had that dream about something killing everyone again. After stretching a bit, I checked my omnitool. It was 9:05. I slipped on some shorts and went downstairs.

At first, I didn't know why the gang wasn't in the kitchen as usual. Then, it hit me. Another hit on the Zodiacs. Just dandy, I know. I'll be left here alone with nothing to do. These days could actually be relaxing if I did the right things, and if one of the guys didn't come back dead. That happened two years ago, when one guy was shot through the head by a Zodiac during a raid. Finch got really pissed, so our guys destroyed 3 Zodiac outposts in a matter of days.

I looked out the back door to see them preparing for the raid. Everyone was talking, cleaning and loading guns, checking thermal clips, and getting their gear on. We looked rather militia-like, but I won't lie, the boys fight like true soldiers. They seemed almost ready, except that they were waiting for something. Bone was walking towards the house in his combat gear. He opened the door, and looked me in the eye. "Finch thinks you're ready man, come outside." I followed him out, of course being slightly confused about this.

When we got outside, Bone threw me a spare chest rig and shield emitter. "Trust me, you'll need both for this." I fixed both to myself, and kept following Bone. Finch was in the corner, checking his signature rifle and ammo. Bone left me to Finch, and left the fenced yard, probably getting the cars ready. Finch turned around to face me, and patted me on the back. "You got your gun?" He asked. "Shit." I went back inside, ran up to my room, and grabbed my pistol. Before I left, and thankfully I caught this, I grabbed some spare thermal clips and shoved them into the pockets of the chest rig. Can't fight without any ammo, right? I went back downstairs, and out the door again.

"So, you ready _now_ , Smarts?" I nodded. "Hell yeah, man." The cars began parking outside, and some of the guys began cheering. They always did this, mostly just to get themselves hyped for the battle. Finch went over to them, and opened the gate. They began to pile into the cars, and Finch waved me over. "Don't just stand there man!" I ran over, and climbed into the first car with Finch. The small convoy drove off with everyone nervous about what might happen.

I didn't know where we were going, or what we were doing. I was tapping my foot lightly on the floor of the car, and leaning my head against the window. I felt like Finch was keeping my in the dark about something. I closed my eyes, trying to wrap my head around what we were doing.

Finch shook me awake. "Wake the fuck up, man! We're here!" I blinked a few times to make sure I was awake, and climbed out of the now-empty car. We were behind an apartment building between the house and the city. The boys were already stacked up, and ready to breach. Finch guided me over to a position near the others, and told me to crouch down. "You ready for this?" I nodded, but that was a lie. I was so nervous. How many people will I kill today? I swallowed nervously, trying to take any feelings away.

Finch gave the signal with his hand, and we breached the building with precision that you'd think only came from the military. I went in the middle of them, and so did Finch. Some Zodiacs were already surrendering, but the boys were just beating them down. Some gunshots rang out, and I saw their blood everywhere. We were moving down to the basement, and what we came upon was a massive red sand lab. Some of the Zodiacs were waiting for us, but we were already shooting at them. I took aim at one behind a flipped table, and pulled the trigger. He fell over with a thud as his blood spilled out of the wound. None of these guys were ready for us. Finch told us to search for anything that referred to something referring to a guy called "DW", or "Debt Whore". I don't know what he did, but if he's harmed the Reds, he's harmed himself. I searched through files and such, all while trying to ignore the stench of Red Sand. Why do people even use it anyway? After a few minutes of searching, someone whispered something in Finch's ear. His face clouded up, and he smashed a nearby beaker. "That _fucker_ is really gonna just slip away? He'll show up at some point. Keep the Red Sand for selling. At least we can get a fortune from this."


	8. Chapter Seven: Business as Usual

**Chapter 7: Business as Usual**

 _July 14th, 2170_

I woke up in a cold sweat. What had I been dreaming about? I know it was that one about machines killing everyone. I don't know how, I just felt it, like it was haunting me. I haven't had this nightmare for nearly 2 years now, why is it just coming back? I sat up, and wiped the sweat from my forehead. I checked my omnitool. It was 4:37 in the morning. Despite telling myself to go back to sleep, I snuck downstairs.

I flipped on one light in the kitchen, and it just so happens to be the one that needed to be replaced. Whatever happened to that money we got from that Red Sand 2 years ago? One moment we had it, and then it was gone. I better replace it later. I went over to the fridge, grabbed some orange juice, and poured it into a cup. I drank it all in a few chugs. I set the cup down in the sink, turned off the light, and went back upstairs.

It's been nearly 2 years since my first raid. The one that first exposed me to "Debt Whore". At first I didn't know why we were going, but after doing some digging later on, I found out why. The name refers to the massive debt of credits he owes us. Tens of thousands of credits. That's where the money went. He stole it electronically, and squandered it on gambling. The search to find the guy was called off by Finch a days before his birthday last year, and he's since gone off of our radar.

Instead of going back to sleep like I should've been doing. I began using my omnitool for a while. I eventually got bored, so I layed back, closed my eyes, and hoped that the nightmare wouldn't return.

I woke up much later, having slept without any nightmares this time. I raised myself from bed, and got dressed. I've been trying this thing I found on the Extranet, lucid dreaming, to try and get rid of the nightmares. Hasn't worked for me yet though, but I hope that it'll work some day.

When I went downstairs, I ate with the rest of the gang and checked the news on my omnitool. The Batarians making empty threats as usual, the expansion of human colonies to the Turians' anger, etc. Nothing surprising. I put my dishes in the sink, and went outside.

The sights, sounds, and smells of the city never get old. To me, being outside in the city has become something to relax me. Probably from all those raids against the Zodiacs, but it could be something else. As I began walking, I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a cigarette packet. I pulled one out, put it in my mouth, and lit it with an old lighter. I placed both the lighter and the packet back in my pockets, and took a drag from the cigarette. I released a lot of smoke into the air, and I felt really good.

I have no clue how the whole cigarette thing started. I started a year back, when I smoked after raids. But now, I smoke after anything stressful, whether it be school or problems with friends. I kept the cigarette between my fingers, taking drags every now and then before I dropped the stub that was left on the sidewalk.

Today is a day to relax. I was walking towards the tram station to get to Lil' Tim's quicker, but I saw the Tram depart just as I was walking up the stairs to the station. I climbed up, and sat on the bench along with a few other people for the next tram to arrive. It arrived a few seconds later, and we boarded.

I sat down near the door, and tried to close my eyes, for whatever good that'll do. But before I could close my eyes, I spotted someone familiar. From school? Yeah, I know her. What's her name, Riley? I took a look at her more closely. She was sitting slumped over, using her omnitool. Her rather beautiful blond hair was hanging down, and her grayish-blue eyes focused on the omnitool. I looked away, and thought for a moment. Am I really falling for her? I barely even know her. But I'll try and talk to her once school starts up again. The tram stopped and she got off, leaving me to think about her for the rest of the ride to the stop where Lil' Tim's was.


	9. Chapter Eight: Riley

**Chapter 8: Riley**

 _October 5th, 2170_

Holy shit. She's better than I ever could've imagined. School started last month, and you know what? She's in all my classes. I've been talking to her for a few weeks now, and she and I share so many interests it's scary. Extranet games? She's into them. Intelligent? Yeah. The list goes on. She and I even listen to the same music. It's scary, I know. But I think that she likes me. She's been flirting with me in and out of school, pretty subtly at first, but it got less subtle the more we talked.

It's Friday. I just got home from school, with the weekend to look forward to. Usually during the school year Finch won't make me go on raids or do anything for the gang. Hopefully nothing would happen over the weekend.

I layed back on my bed. I took off my shirt and threw it across the room. I rolled over, and tried to close my eyes when Bone knocked on my door. "Yo Smarts, some girl wants to see you." I opened my eyes quick. It was Riley. "Alright man. Tell her I'll be there in a bit." I got up as fast as I could, grabbed my shirt from the other side of the room, and slipped my shoes on. I checked my omnitool just as I went down the stairs. It was 4:30. What would she ever need from me?

When I got outside, she was killing time using her omnitool. After some time she noticed me waiting for her. Her face seemed to light up. "Hey, Lucas!" I couldn't help but smile a bit. She's really cute when she's happy, you know? "Hey... what'd you need?" In that flirty voice of hers, she said, "You, for something..." I chuckled. "What is that something?" She smiled. "You'll see."

We walked aimlessly around the area for a while, talking, flirting, the usual. But then she took me onto the tram, and she told me that she wanted to take me somewhere near Forgotten Bottom. Oh great, the one place Finch told me to be wary of that wasn't Zodiac territory. A lot of shady shit went down in the warehouses down there. The tram stopped at the Grays Ferry stop, and she took me through abandoned buildings and warehouses to where she wanted to take me.

We were right under the expressway's old bridge, of course being useless due to new tech. We both sat down under it, and she began pulling something out of her hoodie pocket. She shoved a drink of some kind into my hand, and I checked to see what it was. Classic Cream Soda. In a bottle, too, which is really rare to find. I didn't know that they made these still. I looked over at her, and she was already drinking up. She knows me too well. "Where'd you get these?" She finished her first swig, and she looked at me. "Somewhere." "Should I know?" She laughed. "Nah." I opened my bottle, and took a drink. There was a reason this was my favorite soda. Holy shit does it taste good. It tasted good enough that I didn't notice her slip her hand into mine, and rest her head on my shoulder.

 _2 hours later_

We'd been talking about everything for 2 hours straight and drinking a lot of cream soda. It was 7:15 now, and it was time for her to go. We both rose, and hugged each other. We held that hug for what felt like an eternity, and just as I was about to let go, she stopped me. "One more thing, Lucas."

She kissed me on the lips. The entire time we'd been here she was kissing me on the cheek and such playfully, but this was a real passionate kiss. And holy shit did it feel great. We both stopped kissing, and let go of each other. The sun was already going down. She winked at me, and said, "I'll see you around, 'Smarts'." I stood around under the bridge for some time after she left, trying to wrap my head around what just happened.


	10. Chapter Nine: Continuation

**Chapter 9: Continuation**

 _October 6th, 2170_

It was the morning, finally. I spent a lot of last night thinking about Riley, which cost me maybe an hour or two of valuable sleep time. But it was all worth it, you know? Technically, she's my girlfriend now. And that's probably the best thing in my life right now.

I sat up, and checked my omnitool. It was early in the morning, my God. 5:45. I layed back down and tried to sleep again when Bone barged in. "Smarts, Finch needs you ASAP. It's beyond important, man." Jesus, what happened this time? Bone left, and I got dressed as fast as I could. I rushed downstairs to find the gang getting their guns and equipment ready. I picked up my chest rig and shield emitter, getting both ready, and walked over to Finch in the corner. He turned around, and coldly said "We found him."

The convoy stopped at an abandoned warehouse further outside the city. We got out of the cars, and got ready to breach. It was very cloudy, and it was raining pretty hard. There was already gunfire inside, which kinda worried me. Finch had told me that the Zodiacs were looking for DW too, and that we were gonna get him together. That both scared me and intrigued me at the same time, because this was the first time that I wouldn't be shooting at Zodiacs, but I was scared that they might shoot at us anyway. Apparently, DW holed himself up in this warehouse after being chased out of his last hiding place by the Zodiacs, and hired an alien merc company to protect him. Of course, he used money stolen from the Zodiacs.

Before I could get in position, Finch tapped me on the shoulder. "Remember, Smarts; the Zodiacs are friends here." He gave the signal, and we breached. From a quick visual examination, I could see that DW's mercs were holed up in some offices on the far side of the warehouse. The Zodiacs were to our right, and already closing in on them. We were all scrambling for cover when an MG began lighting us up. I kept moving from cover to cover, getting a few shots off here and there. The closer I got, I could see that the mercs were a mixture of human, asari, and turian soldiers. These guys were pros, too, because they were dropping a lot of Zodiacs. I took some precision shots at some snipers on the 2nd floor of offices, but they were only replaced by better snipers. I made it to the door with a few other Reds and even a couple Zodiacs, and we breached the first office.

They immediately began firing in our direction, and one of the Zodiacs dropped. I got behind an overturned desk, and began returning fire. I dropped a couple of them before someone tossed a grenade in through the window. It hit my side, and in a panic I threw it towards the mercs. It exploded in the air near them, knocking a few of them down and allowing me time to kill those on the ground. One of them, a young turian, tried to surrender when I neared the stairs, but I just whacked him across the face with my rifle. Fucking deserved it. I think he was the one who nearly blew my head off while breaching.

I checked behind me. Finch and a few others had made it in with me. I tried climbing the stairs, but a table came tumbling down, so I dived off to the side to avoid getting hit. Bullets started flying down the stairs in the biggest bulletstorm I've ever seen, and when they stopped, I tossed a spare grenade that I had picked up off a merc up the stairs. After the explosion, I heard plenty of screams to convince me that the way was safe. The others followed me up.

I ducked behind another table as the MG gunners stopped firing and turned their guns on us. They were piercing holes in the table already, and it was too dangerous to peek out. I tossed another grenade at them, only to have it explode right near us as it was hit by gunfire. Fuck, don't let me die here.

Then it hit me. I remembered about the other military combat program I had pirated. A combat drone of some type that shocked known hostile targets. I scanned the room, and selected the mercs as hostiles, and generated the drone nearby. It flew around them, confusing them as they tried to destroy it with gunfire. Now was our chance. We raised ourselves above the table and sprayed them with rifle fire, even firing when we knew they were dead. There was one last floor to go. This would no doubt be where DW was, and we'd fucking get the cunt this time.

The last set of stairs was completely gone. They had destroyed them to keep us from getting up to DW. However, teamwork always prevails. Finch helped me up to the third floor, but immediately, I began being suppressed with rifle fire. I heard a car start up outside and drive away. I tossed a grenade around the table, and killed the last 3 mercs. The warehouse fell silent for a moment, before there were cheers from the Zodiacs and our boys. I made sure that the 3 mercs were dead. One turian, one asari, and one salarian. I put one bullet into each of their heads. I sighed, and sat down on the floor. Fighting makes you tired, you know?

Finch climbed up, and saw me on the floor. He helped me up, and patted me on the back. "Holy shit, I haven't seen you fight this well ever. You might just be on par with the military." He looked around. "Any sign of DW?" I held my face with my hand and shame, and said, "No. He left the moment I came up here." Finch visibly got pissed, and smashed a computer nearby. "FUCK!" Another Red came up. He ordered him to tell the others to find any mention of where DW might go next. "This fucker isn't getting away this time."


	11. Chapter Ten: The Market

**Chapter 10: The Market**

 _October 7th, 2170_

 _Reading Terminal Market, Philadelphia, Earth_

Back at that warehouse, someone actually found something relating to DW's next hiding place. One of the guys found a file on a computer that hadn't already been wiped that referred to someone who might know DW somewhere at the Reading Terminal Market. His name? Platnus Val. He's the volus that's the head of the mercenary company that's been defending DW as of late.

There's one slight problem. Anyone who's been to Philadelphia knows that the Market is right in the middle of Center City. Finch knew that sending a massive team to find the guy was a really retarded idea, so he decided that Bone and I would go in to find him. Apparently, he's been working out of a maintenance room somewhere in the Market. We need to find that maintenance room in any of the stores or halls, interrogate Platnus about who DW is, and leave. Oh, and we get extra credits if we get him to call all the mercenaries off.

I've been sleeping on this bench outside of the Market for at least 3 hours. I was startled awake when a car landed nearby, and a couple mercenaries got out. I examined them for a bit, and realized that they were Platnus' mercenarines. It was time. I notified Bone, and entered the market to follow them.

They say that Reading Terminal Market might become one of the biggest markets in the galaxy, and whenever I hear that, I know that that's true. Human, Turian, Asari, Salarian, whatever species you can think of, you'll find them all here. But that only made tracking these mercs harder. Getting through the crowds was extremely difficult, and when they stopped at stores, I'd have to find something to make it look like I wasn't watching them. After about 10 minutes of tracking them, they stopped at a restaurant somewhere deep inside the market. I sat at the counter, and watched as a waiter took them outside. I subtly followed them out, and saw that they had gone into a maintenance room behind the restaurant. I immediately notified Bone. "I've found him. Going in."

I waited a while to enter to make sure that nobody saw me going in. The first room was really dark, and I could only see the light under the door across the room. I opened that door silently, and began sneaking down the stairs to the next room. I could hear somebody talking to someone over a computer, and could tell that it was Platnus. From behind a small crate near the door, I noticed that there were mercs around the room, talking to each other and keeping watch. Platnus was talking to someone on the computer on the table in the center of the room.

"Mr. Stokes, we've been expecting our pay for weeks now. You'd best pay soon, or you won't have our protection." "Listen, Platnus, your guys will have their pay soon enough. Just tell them that they'll get their credits when the job is done." That voice was really familiar, like a voice I hadn't heard in years. But I didn't know anyone who sounded like that, so who could it be? "Alright Mr. Stokes, but you better have those credits by the time we're done." The computer was shut off, and just as Platnus was turning around, gunshots rang out from behind me.

The mercenaries dropped quickly, and Platnus dropped to the ground in fear. I checked behind me, and realized that Bone had just killed all of them with his rifle, "What the fuck, man? We could've saved all of them for interrogation." Bone shot me a look. "Smarts, they wouldn't have just surrendered, you know that, right?" I shrugged. "Good point." We both walked over to Platnus, and saw that he was cowering in fear at our feet. "Please, I'll give you credits, power, anything! Just don't kill me!" Bone kicked him in the chest, and Platnus reeled back in pain. "You'll give us a name if you want to keep your life. Who was the man you were just talking to?" Platnus laughed, then coughed. "I keep my clients' names confidential." Bone shoved his pistol in Platnus' face. "Joke around like that again, and I'll keep your death confidential." Platnus panicked. "Alright, alright! His name is John Stokes, just don't kill me! Do whatever you want with him!" Bone pulled his pistol away, and chuckled. "Thanks, lad."


	12. Chapter Eleven: Offworld

**Chapter 11: Offworld**

 _June 24th, 2172_

 _MSV Stratus_

I've been looking out the window of my "quarters" for half an hour now. The view of Earth from up here is one that'll make guys like me really rethink what they've done. It's so beautiful. Too bad that down there, it's actually really dirty and scummy. I sighed, and layed down on the mattress the captain had given me.

It's been nearly 2 years since I found out who DW was. I had told Finch immediately, only to be told that "we didn't have the money to go to the Citadel and find Stokes". Yeah, you heard that right. John Stokes is on the Citadel, and after doing some digging, I found out that he's an illegal weapons dealer. So, I have to search an entire space station for a guy who can disappear whenever he wants to. Great.

Finch had driven me to the Philadelphia Spaceport himself. He had given me a ID, too, and I was supposed to become "Ryan Costov", an 18 year-old from Houston just looking for work. That's who I had introduced myself as to the captain of the Stratus at the spaceport. He almost recognized that I was 17 years old, and that my name wasn't actually Ryan, but Finch covered my ass again. I took a shuttle to the Stratus, and the captain gave me a mattress and a storage room for quarters. It wouldn't be that bad, except for how cramped my room was. It was kind of hard to find a place to keep my guitar case and bag.

The hum of the ship comforted me as I began to drift off to sleep. I don't know, maybe life on a ship may be better than I thought it would be...

I woke up in a cold sweat a few hours later. Fuck, not again. I had that fucking nightmare again. Machines everywhere, killing everything. The constant grinding of gears, the whirring of motors. It's something that just can't get out of your head, you know?

I got up again, and looked out the window. We were somewhere different now, but the expanse of space was still calming. I don't even know why. Whenever I looked up at the sky back home, I always felt calm. I guess that feeling works here, too.

I heard a knocking at the door. "What is it?" "Next relay is coming up, and we'll be at the Citadel soon enough. Get your things." I wiped the sweat off my forehead. "Ok." I went over to my bag, grabbed a new change of clothes, and put them on. I shoved my other clothes in my bag, and covered the gun well enough that it wouldn't be seen by visual inspection. I grabbed the bag, checked to see if I still had all my credits, picked up my guitar case and left.

I waited on the bridge with the Captain as the Stratus entered the next mass relay, and the Citadel came within sight. The station was... beautiful. The nebula emphasized what seemed to feel like an aura coming from the station, and the many ships surrounding it was an awing sight. So, this would be home for an uncertain amount of time.

The ship came into dock at one of the many docking ports inside the station, and I stepped out of the airlock. There were C-Sec customs officers waiting outside. Their human commander stepped forward to greet us. "Captain Johnston! Glad to see you back here! Oh, and who's the kid?" The captain shrugged. "Dunno. Came along for some reason. His name's Ryan. Take him, he's staying here." I stepped forward. "Uh... hello sir?" The commander chuckled. "Search the ship boys, I'll take the kid down to customs." The other C-Sec officers entered the ship, and I followed the commander.

Customs was pretty crowded. Glad I wasn't waiting in any of the lines to get in, because I'd say it'd be a few hours before I'd be processed. But, the commander took me through the crowds, and decided that he'd search me himself. "Alright son, arms out." He patted me down, and scanned me using his omnitool. He also searched my guitar case. But then he reached my bag, and stopped like he found something. I was extremely nervous. "Say, kid, guns aren't necessarily allowed through. But give me a hundred credits, and I'll say this gun was never in this bag." Fuck. I pulled a hundred credits out of my back pocket, and gave them to him. "Alright, thank you. Have a good time, but don't kill yourself." He let me through, and I was officially on the Citadel.


	13. Chapter Twelve: A Lead

**Chapter 12: A Lead**

 _June 26th, 2172_

 _Zakera Ward, the Citadel_

Ok, the Citadel isn't as glamorous as I thought it would be. I thought that this place would be really clean, but nope. It's too similar to Philly. That's a shame too, because I was actually looking forward to seeing something rather new.

I've been held up by thugs 3 times over the past two days. But they only carried knives, while I carried a pistol. I've been spreading my "name" around a bit on the deeper parts of the Extranet, and I've got someone who might get me a job. His name is Krag, and apparently he wants to meet me near the Zakera Cafe. So today, that's where I'm headed.

I've been camping out in this hotel room for some time now, getting to know my way around and such. I got up from bed, and took a shower. I dried off, and got dressed, and checked myself in the mirror. Holy shit. Those sick ass mutton chops are finally coming in! Nice. I shaved off everything except for the shape of the mutton chops that I wanted, and washed my face. I got dressed in my usual clothes, slipped on my hoodie, and went back into the main room. I opened the drawer near my bed, grabbed my pistol and a few spare thermal clips, and made sure that the place was locked before I left.

The walk to Zakera Cafe wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Didn't have to draw my gun on anyone this time, which felt pretty good. There weren't many people outside the cafe, so I went inside, and ordered a coffee from the menu.

I stood outside drinking that coffee and watching people pass for 15 minutes before I spotted a krogan walking by. He glanced at me for a moment, and stood next to me. He was in full armor, minus the helmet of course. He looked pretty tough. Was this Krag? We stood there for a minute or two before he started talking. "You Costov?" I nodded. "Yeah, but I prefer you call me Smarts." He looked over at me, and snorted. "Ok, Smartass." I took another sip of my coffee. "So, what needs to be done?" He handed me a datapad. "There's a guy I need roughed up. He owes me a few credits, and he's very overdue." I looked at the datapad. Evan Pinkton. Human, 37 years old. Bald, white, usually hangs around the lower markets. "If you do the job right, maybe you'll get some pay." I glanced in Krag's direction. "How much you talkin'?" Krag chuckled. "I like you, Smartass. Straight to the point." He leaned in. "1,000." I was surprised on the inside, but I didn't show it. "Hmph. Good offer." "I still gotta see you in action, though, so you're still a kid to me. You'll see me again when the job is finished." He left, and I threw my empty cup into the trash.

The lower markets are dirty, and by dirty I mean the dirtiest place I've ever seen. A lot of people are gettin' ripped off down here. But I've got a debt to collect. I walked through the door to the markets, and began looking through the crowds for Evan.

Humans are actually harder to come by than I thought. A lot of turians, asari, salarians, and volus everywhere. After about half an hour of searching the crowds for this guy, I walked away from the shops. I leaned against a wall, and waited for a while. What if he was already gone? What if he already knew that I was coming for him? I don't know. I still waited for him to show up.

A while later, he walked through the door to the markets. Jackpot. I followed him over to the corner of the room, and waited for him to sit down. I stood over him, and he looked up at me. "Who the fuck are you?" "You Evan Pinkton?" His eyes widened in fear. "Fuck you!" He began to run for the door again, but I tackled him to the ground, and beat him enough that he started talking again. "STOP STOP STOP! I'LL TALK!" Nobody could hear him above the noise of the crowds, and no one bothered to stop me. "You owe Krag a whole lot of fuckin' dough! Give me the credits, and trust me, you won't be harmed again!" Evan closed his eyes, and muttered something under his breath. "Fine. Tell Krag that the money's in Warehouse 29A. Just leave me alone." He tried to get up, but I held him down again. "The fuck, man?! I just told you where the money was!" I squinted at him. "I know. I need some information about someone. Tell me about a man going by the name John Stokes." Evan laughed nervously. "Stokes? You want _him_ too? Jeez, you're too young to be taking big guys like Stokes-" I punched him across the face. "Wrong answer. Do you know Stokes or not?" He coughed up some blood. "Yes, yes I do!" "Then where is he?" "Larus. Find Larus. I have no fuckin' clue where he is now. But you better hurry fast, kid. Stokes might already be gone." I punched him again, and he was out cold. As much as I hate to hurt people like this, I have to do it to get closer to Stokes. Getting Stokes helps everyone back home, and helping people is my job.

I came back to my hotel room to find Krag right outside my door. "Don't need to tell me. Already picked up the money. One of my guys saw you rough him up pretty good even after you got the money's location. You're shaping up to be a pretty good kid, Smartass." We entered my hotel room, and I threw my hoodie off. "Krag, you know a guy named Larus?" Krag looked at me like I was nuts. "Larus? That Salarian nutjob? Why do you need him?" I glanced at Krag and said, "Personal job. Listen, you owe me a favor from roughin' up Pinkton for that money." Krag snorted. "No I don't. I only owe you a thousand credits." I raised my voice. "Fuck the credits. If you help me get over with this personal business, I'll help you with whatever you need." Krag sighed. "Fine, my guys and I will help you for however long this takes. But don't pussy out on us, Smartass."


	14. Chapter Thirteen: Larus

**Chapter 13: Larus**

 _July 4th, 2172_

Krag and I have been spending the last 9 days looking for Larus, and after searching through a lot of places and consulting a lot of his... "contacts"... we've found out that Larus is now manager of a local restaurant. The problem? He knows that he might a target for something like this. I guess Pinkton tipped him off about what we might do, so he's locked down his restaurant and hired mercs to defend him. Krag and his guys are gonna help me out here.

For a krogan, Krag isn't actually that bad with a sniper rifle. In fact, it's his weapon of choice. The plan is to have him and one of his guys in an apartment across from the restaurant providing covering fire for the rest of us, who'll surround the restaurant, clear it of mercs, grab Larus and get out before C-Sec arrives. Krag's connections in C-Sec have ensured that C-Sec won't be on scene when we're there, and that their response will be delayed so that we have enough time to get out. And I thought Philly cops were corrupt...

We were in position and waiting for signs of movement inside the restaurant. I looked behind me, and saw Krag in the window of the apartment. He was already scanning the windows for mercs. I sat there, nervously tapping my foot, flicking the safety of the rifle in my hand off and on. I got this rifle a few days ago so that I wouldn't only have a pistol during these jobs. I've never had my hands on an M-8 Avenger before, and I swear these are the best ergonomics on any gun I've ever held. Why haven't the Reds got any back home? I don't know, and I shouldn't be thinking about that now. I have a Salarian to catch.

My omnitool pinged. Someone had spotted a merc in the window, and it was time. Krag's sniper rifle rang out, and I heard a window shatter. There was a scream inside, and we began to fire in. The mercs started returning fire at us when they realized what was happening. A group of Krag's men and I got right under the window, and lobbed a grenade in. After the explosion, we rose up into the window and fired at any mercs in the open. Goddamn does this feel good. We broke down the door and charged in, shooting every merc in sight that we hadn't gotten before.

Eventually the restaurant was clear, and Krag came in to meet me. "You found Larus yet, Smartass?" I shook my head no, and began searching behind the counter. There he was, cowering with a pistol in his hand. He pointed it up at me. "Step back man! I'm not afraid to use this!" I sighed. "Larus, if you come with us you won't be hurt at all. I just need to talk about something." He glared at me. "No way man. I heard about what you did to Pinkton. I ain't going down like him." I could feel myself getting angrier. I raised my voice. "Would you rather have a chat with us-" Krag finished my sentence. "-or be busted by C-Sec for your Red Sand operation?" Larus lowered his pistol, and a look of fear came over him. "Alright, ok. Just don't-" Krag kicked him across the face, knocking him out cold. He dragged him out from under the counter, and carried him across the back. I followed him out, only to see that Krag's guys were already engaging C-Sec officers down the street. "What the fuck, Krag! You said there'd be no C-Sec!" Krag got pissed. "Fucking rat. I'll have his ass next time I see him." He started screaming into his earpiece. "Keep them off Costov's back, no matter the cost!" He turned his head to face me. I could see the anger in his eyes. He shoved Larus into my arms, and said, "Get back to your hotel room! We'll keep C-Sec off of you as much as we can!" He pulled out his sniper rifle, and took up a position in one of the broken windows. "What are you waiting for, Smartass! Get going!"

Salarians are actually lighter than I thought they'd be. I slung Larus over my back, and made a break for it into the apartments across the way. I kept making my way through the maze of apartments, dodging C-Sec as much as I could until I came into an alley. I kept running as I heard C-Sec officers yelling at me to stop behind me. They started shooting, so I began zigzagging to avoid the storm of bullets being fired my way. I eventually lost them in the labyrinth of alleys, and got back to my hotel room. Holy shit! What the fuck just happened?! I entered my room, and laid Larus down on my bed.

I immediately entered the bathroom, and washed my face. I looked at myself in the mirror. There were cuts on my face, and I was bleeding pretty bad from my left arm. I checked the drawers for spare medigel, and after finding some, I applied it to the cuts on my face and the gash on my arm. Crude job, but still sufficient. I went back into the bedroom, took off my hoodie, and sat in a chair facing the bed Larus was on. I grabbed my pistol, loaded in a thermal clip, and waited for Larus to wake up.

It took a few hours for Larus to come about. When he woke up, he was scared stiff, and tried to leave. "C-Sec'll have you if you try to leave." That was sufficient enough, and he sat back down on the bed. He took a look at me, and cringed. "Geez, you look bad." I continued to stare at him. "It was all to get you out of there alive." I turned on the TV to the news. News of a shootout at a local restaurant... reknowned krogan crime lord, Krag, killed in the fighting... no survivors from his gang. Larus watched with me. "I may have hated Krag, but he was a damn good merc." I stared at the floor for a while. I was just getting to get Krag's respect.

I got up. "Well, I got you for one thing." I holstered my pistol, and pulled up a chair. "You know who a certain John Stokes is, right?" Larus looked at me like I was insane. "How old are you?" I raised my eyebrow. "17. Why?" He shooked his head, and brought his palm to his face. "You're too young to be hunting this guy. He's ruthless, and knows just how to get your money out of your hands." I grew angrier. "I don't care. I need him for personal business. Now, do you have any idea where he might be?" Larus laughed. "You don't just find Mr. Stokes. Besides, he left the Citadel a few months ago." I could feel my blood boiling. "So my being here on the Citadel is pointless?" Larus got up. "Listen, kid. I've got some beef with the guy, too. How about we find him together?" What choice do I have? I just lost my previous ally only a few hours ago. "You know what? Sure." Larus smiled. "I'll find a ship. I heard he went to Earth, a city called Philly? Philadelphia? You know where it is?" I laughed. "I've lived there all my life, of course I know where it is!"


	15. Chapter Fourteen: Homecoming

**Chapter 14: Homecoming**

 _July 6th, 2172_

 _MSV Vladivostok_

2 days ago, Larus and I found a ship that was bound for Earth. We had to pack quickly, and the ship was about to leave when we came on board. The captain seemed annoyed that we were coming on so late, but he still gave us a small area in the cargo hold where we would stay. Larus was sitting on the floor, leaning against a cargo container and trying to get some rest. I was looking out the window into the vast expanse of space, and trying to decide where we'd start looking for Stokes.

Then, out of the blue, Larus asked me something. I was kind of zoned out, so I didn't know what he said. "Say again?" "What's Philadelphia like?" I looked away from the window, and sat down next to Larus. "Well, downtown is pretty clean. That's really the only place that's put in advertisements and such. However, the further you get from downtown, the more you see the poorer side of the city. I live between the ghettos and downtown." Larus nodded. "Interesting." I got up, walked over to my bag and picked up a book. I sat down next to Larus again. He looked over at me and said, "I have a feeling your name isn't actually Ryan. What is it, really?" I looked back at him, and closed my book. "It isn't. My name is Lucas Shepard, but feel free to call me Smarts if you want."

We sat around in silence for a while, until one of the crewmembers came over to us. "Captain wanted you guys to know that we're on approach to Earth. Better start packing your stuff." Larus and I looked at each other, and I nodded. The crewmember left us, and we began packing up everything we had gotten out. We went to the airlock on the other end of the ship, and waited for the ship to dock at the Philadelphia Spaceport.

 _Philadelphia Spaceport, Philadelphia_

The airlock opened, and we entered into a cargo hangar somewhere near the top of the spaceport. The spaceport was the tallest building in the city, and if I had a view I could probably see everywhere in the city. However, the hangar has no other openings. The hangar was unusually empty, which made me suspicious. Was the Spaceport on lockdown? The only time the place was ever on lockdown that I know of was years ago.

I was right. The Spaceport was on lockdown. How did I know? I knew when 4 security teams entered the hangar, and started rushing towards the ship. Larus and I were forced on the ground, and the teams entered the ship. I couldn't see what was going on, because my head was being held against the floor by a security officer. I could hear the crew being dragged out.

The captain was forced on the ground next to me. I could hear him groaning as handcuffs were placed on him. "Captain Hanson, you and your crew are charged with smuggling of illegal substances, smuggling of illegal weaponry, and failure to comply with lockdown." The captain snorted. "Bullshit, ma'am." He was dragged away, and I could hear the rest of the crew being led away. "Ma'am, what do we do with these two?" The commander leaned down to look at us. "They obviously aren't part of the crew." She turned to me. "Why are you coming here?" "I'm coming home from the Citadel... this was the first ship we found coming back here." There was silence for a moment, and we were released by the security officers. "Well kid, seems fair enough. Just don't get in any trouble with your friend here. This place is on lockdown." I raised my eyebrow. "Why?" "There was a firefight in the lower levels a couple days ago between us and a merc group. Caught them trying to mess with the Spaceport's electricity, I have no idea why. Anyway, you better get out, kid. Lockdown's still in effect."

 _Philadelphia, Earth_

Larus and I left the Spaceport as fast as we could. Mercs trying to shut down the Spaceport? What for? Could've been Stokes' mercs trying to stop us. Anyway, Larus and I got away from the Spaceport as fast as we could on foot. After all, we had no car or anything. As we hurried, I notified Finch on my omnitool that I was back, and that I needed a pickup at the intersection of North Broadway and West Allegheny. Larus followed shortly behind me.

When we made it to the intersection, we saw Bone's car parked across the street. We ran across the street, and I opened the door to the car. "Smarts? Back already?" I jumped in. "No time to explain. Get in, Larus." Bone looked back at us as Larus climbed in. "Who's the Salarian?" "A friend. Let's get back to the house."

Bone drove us back to the house, asking me about what the Citadel was like, and why I was back so quickly. "So, why are you back here in Philly so fast?" "Stokes is here." Bone's face grew grim. "We have to tell Finch. Yo, Lizard, you have any idea where he might be?" Larus sighed. "'Lizard'? Don't ever call me that again. My name is Larus. I've worked with him in the past, and can give some names of where he might hide."

We stopped in front of the house, and we proceeded inside. Finch was already waiting for us near the front door. He seemed pleased to see me. "Smarts! How was the Citadel?" He embraced me. "Got a lead, and he's here with us." Bone left us, and Larus stepped in. Finch's smile faded, and he glared at Larus. "The lizard? How do you know we can trust him?" I looked at Larus. "He hasn't killed me yet, has he?" Finch looked back at me. "Good point. Come on, I've got a few things to explain to you, and just hang around here for now, lizard." Larus again sighed, and sat down on the stairs. Finch took me into the kitchen.

"A lot changed while you were gone, Smarts." I raised my eyebrow. "Like...?" "We're in an all-out war with the Zodiacs. They wanted to get to Stokes first, and take our money with him, but we couldn't let that happen. Over the past days we've been fighting for turf throughout the city, and the smaller gangs are starting to pick sides. With the guys we have on our side, we have a shot at winning this." A war with the Zodiacs? Just great. Dandy. "I have a feeling I'll be fighting in this?" Finch nodded. "But not in the way you think. I need you to find Stokes ASAP so that the Zodiacs have nothing to fight for. Talked to that lizard yet?" I glared at Finch. "He has a name, you know. It's Larus." Finch shrugged. "Larus, Lizard, what's the difference? Anyway, let's talk to him.

We came back towards the front of the house, and found Larus on the stairs using his omnitool. Finch started talking. "So, Lizard, you know about any place where Stokes may go?" Larus looked up at us. "Yes. While I worked for him on the Citadel a while back, I found a place that apparently was here in Philadelphia. He called it, 'The Lion's Den'. It was sort of a last resort, just in case he was ever compromised on the Citadel." Finch looked at me, with a look of revalation on his face. "He's closer than we thought. The Lion's Den hotel is downtown. There's a problem, though. That's Zodiac territory, and we're gonna have to create a distraction for you to go inside." I knew where the Lion's Den was. It was right across the street from Venok's apartment. I'll go see him before I get Stokes. "Alright. Give me some time before we hit the place, I wanna get myself ready." Finch nodded. "Alright. And Lizard?" Larus perked up. "Yes?" "You stay here. I need some info about Stokes. Oh, and Smarts, your girlfriend dropped by. Left me a datapad, and said it was for you. You might wanna read it before you get Stokes." He pulled a datapad out of his coat, and gave it to me. "Thanks, I guess." I climbed the stairs up to my room.

My room didn't really change that much, but I still had to unpack my luggage. I left my guitar in the corner as usual, and left my clothes in the drawer. I layed down on my bed, and layed the datapad down on my chest. I wonder what it is... I pressed a button, and the display lit up. It was a note.

"Babe, I'm sorry. You know about my father's company, McKinney Mining Co.? It went under a while ago. I haven't had the heart to tell you about it, because I know you know the consequences. We're moving out of Philly. We can't afford much any more, and it's more affordable to live outside the city than in. I'm sorry, but I must likely won't see you again. You're still in my heart, and I hope I'm still in yours. I'll love you until time itself stops. Love, Riley McKinney"


	16. Chapter Fifteen: Redemption

**Chapter 15: Redemption**

 _July 7th, 2172_

 _Philadelphia, Earth_

What's the point? Really, I mean it. What's the point? The light in my life just fell into darkness, and I have nothing to stop me from being sucked into the cruelty and insanity of the criminal world. Don't do this, Lucas. Stay strong. She may not be there for you, but you have to be there for others. Make sure they don't fall into darkness. Stay good not only for your sake, but for everyone else.

At least I still have Venok. I slept for 4 hours, and It's been hard trying to get to sleep since. I've been staring at the ceiling, trying to keep myself from becoming a monster. I need to stay strong. Be good for others. Be good for her. I sat up, and got dressed. I walked into the bathroom, splashed some water on my face, and combed my hair. I stared at myself in the mirror for some times. Don't become a monster on me, Lucas. I walked downstairs.

The kitchen was empty, except for Finch waiting for me in the corner. He came over to me. "You ready, Smarts?" I nodded. "Yeah. I'm ready." Finch smiled. "Let me tie a few things up. I'll be back in a bit." He went upstairs, and I sat around waiting for a while. We'll finally get Stokes and get this all out of the way. I just want to live a normal life for a while. Finch came back down the stairs, and tossed me my chest rig and shield emitter. I strapped both on, and loaded my pistol. "Let's get this guy."

The others were already gone. The plan was to have them attack a nearby Zodiac hideout while we sneak into the Lion's Den and get to the penthouse, where Stokes is most likely to be, according to Larus. We went out the front door, and climbed into the car. Bone wasn't coming with us this time. He was going to lead the guys against the Zodiacs today. I sat in the passenger seat, and leaned my head against the window. As Finch began driving, he asked, "You ok, Smarts?" I shook my head no. "I'm fine, just a little tired." We kept driving into the city.

We parked across the street from the Lion's Den hotel, and got out. I stared up at the massive building in front of me. I'm fuckin' coming. I heard the sound of police sirens nearby, which told me that the distraction had already begun. The sidewalks were mostly deserted from the sound of gunfire nearby. We crossed the street, and entered the lobby of the hotel.

Even the hotel was deserted, like someone knew we were coming. It was too quiet. Finch tapped on my shoulder, so I drew my pistol. We moved towards the elevators across the room slowly, making sure that there were no mercs to stop us. One popped up from behind the reception counter, but I shot him in the head before he could kill us. We loaded into an elevator, and I pressed the button for "Penthouse". As the elevator sped up the building, Finch put his hand on my shoulder. "This is it, Smarts. Remember, don't kill the guy yet. We need to know where our money is first." The elevator slowed down, and pinged when it had stopped at the penthouse. We exited the elevator.

Holy shit. This guy lives nice for a man who lives in debt. There were windows surrounding the entire place except for the ceiling and floor. We saw a man standing across the room, looking out the window. We went over to him slowly, to make sure that it wasn't a trap. When we neared the desk behind him, he said, "So, you finally found me. It was only a matter of time." He turned around, and stood there, looking at us. It was like looking in a mirror, minus the mutton chops and with a scar across his left eye. He looked so familiar, and he looked so much like me. Who was he? "Lucas, you've grown up well. It's like looking in a mirror." I pointed my pistol at him. "Who the fuck are you, and how the fuck do you know my name?" He chuckled. "Ah. It's been too long, and you probably don't remember me. I'm your brother, James." I looked over at Finch, who looked surprised. "Bullshit. I don't have a brother." He chuckled again, and began pacing. "You do, and he's me. You didn't actually think my name was John Stokes, did you?" I looked back over at Finch, who had lowered his rifle already. "14 years ago, I made a mistake. I gave you to the Reds to repay Dad's debts. I should've taken you with me. I wish I could take you with me now, but it's too late." I lowered my pistol, and looked to Finch for an answer. He was tearing up a bit. "He's right, Smarts. But you've grown up to be a damn good kid, and I'm proud to have raised you right." James kept pacing. "It's too late for me now, and there's no way out. I owe too many debts. Lucas, I've watched you over the years. I watched how you grew up, and I'm happy to say I'm proud of you." He pulled out a pistol, and held it to his head. I noticed that I was already shedding tears. "Finch, you'll find the money in a warehouse near you guys' home. Lucas, I'm proud of you. I'm so goddamn proud of you. I wish I could have the chance to live on and see what you become, but I can't. This is the end of the line for me. Goodbye. I love you." Just as he was about to pull the trigger, I jumped forward. "No!" Too late. His head exploded into red mist, and "John Stokes", my brother, was no more.


	17. Chapter Sixteen: Leaving it Behind

**Chapter 16: Leaving it Behind**

 _June 20th, 2173_

 _Philadelphia, Earth_

It's been nearly a year since my brother died. I never really knew him, but I still miss him, and it feels like a part of me died. I guess that's what happens when a brother dies. I've been laying in bed for a few hours now. I can't get any sleep, and I feel kinda like shit.

I can't live here in Philly anymore. I can't stand the place anymore. Even my cigs taste like shit. I haven't hung out with Venok in a few weeks. That's why a few days ago, I visited a Marine recruitment center. I'm joining up with the Alliance Marines. It has nothing to do with pride or anything, it just has to do with doing good.

Finch has no idea I'm doing this. He thinks that since I'm 18 and school's over that I'm going to be staying with the gang, but that's not the future I want. The transport to the training camp on the Moon leaves in a couple hours, so I have to be ready to leave. I got up out of bed, got dressed, and checked to make sure I packed everything. I left a datapad with a note explaining everything to Finch on my bed, and took my baggage. Before going downstairs, I cleaned myself up a little. My mutton chops are still looking great, as always. I climbed downstairs, and left through the front door.

It was pretty cold outside, but I should expect that when it's 3 in the morning. I walked towards the Philadelphia Spaceport with my luggage in my hands. My path would take me right by Venok's apartment, so I'll drop by and tell him what I'm doing before I leave. I kept walking, trying not to think too much about what I was doing.

Eventually I reached Venok's apartment. The street was relatively quiet, except for the occasional car that passed by. I entered the building, entered the elevator, and punched in the button for his room. When I got up there, I knocked lightly on the door to Venok's apartment.

It took a few minutes before Venok showed up the door. "Lucas, what are you doing?! It's way too early!" He took a look at me. "What are you doing this time, Lucas?" I could feel myself tearing up. "I'm leaving." Venok's face became one of understanding. "Can't stand it in the gangs anymore, huh?" "I can't. I can't stand this city anymore, either." Venok nodded. "Where are you going?" I looked away, and back at Venok. "I'm joining up with the Marines." Venok looked surprised. "What? Why?" I looked down at the ground. "It's the only way out without being hunted down by the guys and being brought back here." Venok looked away, clearly trying to hide some sort of tears. He looked back at me. "I don't wanna lose you. You've been the best friend I've ever had, and I have no idea what I'd do without you." I put my hand on his shoulder. "Hey, it's ok. I won't be hurt, and I promise to visit whenever I can." He embraced me suddenly. "Please, Lucas. I'm gonna be left alone." "I'm sorry, but I have to leave." He let go of me. "I guess this is goodbye. It's been fun, Lucas. I have to get back to sleep before my parents find out I'm up. You know how they are." He shut the door, and I walked back to the elevator. I was crying the whole elevator ride down.

I was eventually at the Spaceport's terminal, and I sat around at Gate E29 waiting for other recruits to show up. It was Gate E29, right? I closed my eyes, and tried to rest. I was woken by the sound of others around me, though, and realized that the others had shown up. Someone had sat down next to me. At first I didn't really care, but then he started talking. "You nervous?" He had a Texan accent. A really thick one, too. "Yeah, you?" He nodded. "Yessir. The name's Derek Luddington. You got a name?" "Lucas Shepard." He chuckled. "Mind if I just call you Shepard?" I raised my eyebrow. "Uhhhh... sure?" I noticed that a soldier was now directing us into the transport. Derek and I got up, and followed the others into the transport.

We sat next to each other on the transport. An officer came out in front of us, and began talking. "Ladies and gentlemen, what you've chosen to do is join the greatest human fighting force in the galaxy. If you're good enough, you'll come out of training one of the best soldiers in the galaxy. In a short while, we'll be leaving for the Lunar training facility, and you'll be living there for the next four years. You won't need all your luggage, so I recommend passing it forward. Otherwise, screening is going to be much harder." Soldiers came forward, and began confiscating almost everything from everybody. However, I refused to give my guitar to the soldier. "Your choice, pal." He moved on, and a lot of my stuff was gone. Derek looked a little disappointed. "What's wrong, man?" He looked at me. "They took a picture of my sister with them." I looked out the window to my left. We hadn't left yet. The officer spoke up again. "Ladies and gentlemen, we'll be at the Moon shortly." The transport took off at a tremendous speed, and I watched as Philadelphia disappeared behind us.


	18. Chapter Seventeen: Impressing the Brass

**Chapter 17: Impressing the Brass**

 _Lunar Training Facility_

We had reached the facility in a surprisingly quick time. We had docked at the facility's port, and were waiting in line to be processed. Nobody could turn back now. Derek was behind me in line. They eventually came to me. The soldier processing looked up at me from her datapad. "Name?" I stood at attention. "Lucas Shepard." "Date of birth?" "September 17th, 2154." "Place of birth?" "Philadelphia, Earth." She typed something into her datapad. "Hand us your case." Reluctantly, I gave them my guitar. A camera took pictures of me from different angles, and the soldier said, "All clear. Report to Barracks B3." I walked down the hall, and turned left. Down this hall were the "B" Barracks. I walked down the hall, looking for B3. It was the second barracks on my right. When I entered, there were already recruits there lying in their bunks. One of them saw me, and came forward. "So, who's the fuckin' new guy?" I was a bit nervous. "Lucas Shepard." "Well, Shepard, welcome to B3. Prepare for a fuckin' nightmare, because that's pretty much what training is at first."

 _August 4th, 2173_

I still have no idea what Haraldson was talking about. Training has actually been relatively easy. I don't know why so many people have dropped out. It's way too easy. Is this really one of the courses that trains the best fighting force in human history? I've been the number one recruit across all the barracks, and I have no idea how I'm doing so well. It's clear that I'm going to be a Combat Engineer. I've passed Engineer courses the best and the fastest. In fact, I'm so good that the others are calling me "Thor" for my excessive use of overload, no matter what kind of hostile I'm fighting. I was laying in my bunk when Drill Sergeant Grants woke me up. "Get up, soldier, and follow me!" I got up feeling extremely groggy. However, I can't disobey orders. I followed the Drill Sergeant out of the barracks, and towards the Live-Fire Range, which everyone calls the "Killing Ground". I've heard stories of people actually dying in the Killing Ground, which makes this pretty exciting for me.

I met Derek at the Killing Ground, and he seemed just as tired as I was. "How ya doin', Shep?" I shrugged. "Pretty good, Tex. You?" The Drill Sergeant turned to us. "Shut up, both of you! Take your armor and weaponry, and I will brief you!" We shut up alright. I slipped on my combat armor, turned on my shield emitter, and grabbed my SMG from the table. The fuck is this course even for. Derek was ready, too. He painted a Texan flag on the right arm of his armor a while back, much to the Drill Sergeant's displeasure. However, he never got rid of it. Derek seemed cut out for being an Infiltrator. He held his sniper rifle under his arm, and he was holding his pistol in his right hand. The sergeant turned to us. "You two are to complete the course together in the fastest time possible, and nothing less! You are being watched by the brass, so don't make us look bad!" He pointed to the observation deck. He was right. There were a couple of Admirals and Captains in there, and they were watching us intently.

"Switch your comms to the following frequency!" He showed us the frequency on his omnitool, and we set it on our comms. "When the bell rings, move as fast as you can! Ready? GO!" The bell rang, and Tex and I were off as fast as we could. He had already cloaked, and was avoiding the automatic turret fire from a balcony around the corner. He had already climbed onto a container, and was taking down targets across a massive field of turrets. Now was my time to shine.

I ran from cover to cover, taking down targets with my SMG and combat knife. The turrets could barely get a shot on me. Using a hack, I turned a turret on the others before it was destroyed by a massive barrage of fire. I was calling out targets for Tex to hit that I couldn't, and I'd see them drop the moment after I told him. We were only a couple minutes in.

Eventually, the field was clear, and Tex formed up on me. We had another field to clear. This time, it combined mines, rockets, and pretty much anything that could kill us in conventional warfare. Tex cloaked himself again, and climbed up into a good firing position. He was already shooting the mines that were getting in my way.

I kept diving from cover to cover, and nearly took a rocket to the face. I kept firing from behind cover, and Tex kept hitting targets I called out. The turrets kept exploding faster than they could fire, and in a couple minutes the field was clear. Tex uncloaked, and came down from his position. "Not bad, Thor. Not bad at all." I smiled, and gave him a shove. "Same to you." We removed our helmets as the Drill Sergeant came out to meet us. "Goddammit, you two! That was some of the finest teamwork and shooting I've ever seen in this facility! I have some news from the Admirals. You two are officially being transferred into the N7 Program. Get your things from your footlockers, you ship out at 0800 hours!" We saluted, and in unison said, "Sir, yes sir!"

 _January 4th, 2174_

 _SSV Gladiator_

We had sure impressed the brass that day. They took us away from the training facility, and we've been on the SSV Gladiator, Admiral Peters' ship, for some time now, waiting for our first assignment. I was sleeping in my bunk in the crew quarters when I woke up in a cold sweat. Again? Fucking again? That nightmare with the machines was back. Killing everyone and everything. The whir of motors, and the screams of trillions. I wiped the sweat off my head, and layed back down. Tex was on the bunk to my right. He was looking at me. "You ok, Thor?" I gulped. "Yeah, I'm fine." "If ya say so..." As I was about to go back to sleep, the intercom sounded. "2nd Lts. Shepard and Luddington, report to the briefing room." I forgot. We had been promoted all the way up to 2nd Lts. because of our involvement in the N7 Program, and by the orders of the Admirals who had evaluated us. Tex looked over at me. "I'm guessing this is our first mission?" I shrugged. "I guess..." We got dressed, and proceeded to the briefing room.

When we got up there, Admiral Peters was already waiting for us. He was standing at the table in the center of the room. "Shepard, Luddington, the brass believes that you two are ready to officially start your N7 testing. Your first test will be on the planet Klantine, a desert planet nearby. You two will survive in the desert for a week, and then you'll be extracted at the following coordinates." He sent the coordinates to our omnitools. "I'm expecting you two to come out of this alive. Gear up. You'll be on the ground soon enough. Dismissed."


	19. Chapter Eighteen: Klantine

**Chapter 18: Klantine**

 _January 5th, 2174_

 _Klantine_

I knew deserts were hot, but this place is baking me alive. Tex and I were dropped off yesterday in an unknown place in the desert, and we have a week to reach the extraction zone. I have no fucking clue how we're gonna survive a week on this pile of sand. There's barely any water, barely any animals, and no visible plants. But then again, this is what I signed up for.

Tex and I have been walking for a few hours now, trying to get a good path to the extraction zone. He actually picked off a fox-ish thing, and that's what we had for breakfast. Tex brought whiskey with him, but he hasn't had any yet. We were just coming up over a hill when we stopped.

Tex pulled out his rifle, and aimed down the scope. He seemed surprised. "Thor, check it out." He handed me his rifle, and I aimed in the direction he wanted me to see. Holy shit. I had seen a speck in the distance, but I had no clue what it was. It was a whole fucking pirate base. I lowered the rifle, and looked towards Tex. "Holy fuck. You know what this means?" Tex smiled. "Target practice, food, water, and everything we need." "But we don't have the firepower to take out a whole fucking group of pirates." He fell into a state of deep thought, and paced around for a while. He lit up again. "We'll camp closer to them. Over the next couple days, we'll psychologically fuck with them 'til they surrender to us." I nodded. "That actually isn't a bad idea. Let's get closer, so we can see how many of them there are."

It took us a while to get behind a hill much closer to the pirates. We layed down on the hill, and Tex looked down his rifle's scope at them again. "Hm. Not bad. They've got some makeshift metal walls. Entrance guarded pretty well with a mounted MG. Can't see inside. From what I can see, they have pretty shitty guns. We can probably take them out now, if we wanted." I shook my head. "No. We don't know how many they have inside, and that MG will be a nightmare." Tex looked at me. "True-" There was a roar in the sky. A shuttle landed nearby, and pirates dismounted. Some came out of the base, and greeted the ones that just came. It seemed like they were trading something. Tex and I watched intently. One of them went back into the shuttle, and a few minutes passed. Men, women and children were herded out, and brought into the base. Fuck, hostages. Tex's eyes widened. "Holy fuck. Where do you think they're from?" I thought for a while. "Didn't a human Terminus colony disappear a couple days ago?" Tex thought for a while, and he looked solemn. "Yeah. It's them. Let's torture these fuckers." I put my hand on his rifle. "Don't. Not yet. We have to wait until night, they'll be mostly asleep then." He lowered his rifle. "Yeah. You're right. But tonight, they'll wish they were in Hell."

We camped at that hill until the middle of the night. When it was time, Tex shook me awake. "It's time, Thor." I put on my helmet, and loaded my SMG. "Hell yeah. Tonight, these sick fucks know what's worse than Hell." Tex and I began moving silently towards the base. He broke off from me, and took up a position with a good view on the entrance. He opened comms. "I'll hit the guy on the MG. The others will most likely try and come out. I'll pick them off, too. If they have any vehicles nearby, you handle them. When they stop coming out, we move in for the kill."

I waited nearby. A shot rang out from Tex's position, and the guard on the MG dropped. There were screams inside the base, and I heard the sound of a massive vehicle starting up behind the base. More pirates kept coming out of the entrance, and Tex kept dropping them. Eventually, they stopped coming out, and a massive armored car came out from behind the base. It opened fire on Tex's position, so he cloaked and came over to me. "Now!" I overloaded the armored car's systems, and watched as it burst into flames. The crew were trying to get out, and Tex picked them all off. We moved together towards the entrance. I peeked around the corner, and threw a grenade. An explosion sounded, and more screams cried out in the night. Tex peeked out, and picked off a few wounded pirates inside. I crouched down, and rushed in. There were a few buildings scattered about, and there were pirates firing at us from the rooftops. I sprayed them with my SMG, watching a few of them drop to the ground. I came up to the door of a building near the center of the base, and kicked it down. I sprayed the pirates in the room with enough fire to not kill them, but leave them in constant agony. I checked the next room to find the hostages all cramped up inside. "Tex, I found them!" He didn't respond over comms. I checked out a window, and saw that he was taking on multiple pirates with a knife. He was taking slashes at them, but they didn't back off. I dived through the window, and ran towards Tex. I drew my knife from it's holster, and stabbed a pirate in the back of the head. The others tried to climb onto me and kill me, but Tex stabbed both of them. There was no more gunfire. The others came out with their hands up, and the wounded ones were crying out for help. "You handle them, Tex. I'll get the hostages."

I went back into the hostage building, and released all of them. They kept thanking me for what we did, and asked where the evac was. "I'll try and get one. Stay calm, all of you. I don't want a panic." I heard gunshots outside. "Tex, what are you doing?!" He was executing the surrendered and wounded outside. "Finishing the job." I pushed him aside. "What the fuck are you doing?!" He laughed. "What I'm doing to them now, they've been doing for a much longer time." He slapped him across the face. "We don't stoop down to their fucking level. Don't become what we fight." He looked be in the eye. "Alright. You've made your point. Call evac?" I looked at the hostages. "Yeah, and tell them that we've got a lot of others coming with us."

 _January 6th, 2174_

 _SSV Gladiator_

"You mean you knew about that pirate hideout the whole time?!" Tex was pissed. We had been called up to the briefing room for debriefing after being allowed to recuperate. Admiral Peters just revealed that the whole purpose of the test was not only to test our survival skills, but eliminate that pirate base too. "Yes, Lieutenant. But it had to be done. We've tried before and failed. We needed good men to do this for us." Tex got up in the Admiral's face, but I pulled him back. "Back off, Tex. We had to do it. We did it for the good of everyone." Tex calmed down a little. "Yeah, but don't you lie to us next time." The Admiral sighed, and seemed disappointed. "Anyway, the colonists are being resettled somewhere else that's further away from areas rampant with pirates. Good work, you two." We turned to leave, but he stopped us. "I'm not finished. Due to your evident skills in survival and combat shown during the test, I hereby declare you both N1s." Oh man. Apparently, not many people even make N1. This is big for me. I'm a long way from the gangs now...


	20. Chapter Nineteen: Deployment

**Chapter 19: Deployed**

 _April 19th, 2177_

 _SSV Stockholm (Troop Transport)_

"Yo, Thor! Catch!" Sergeant Cooper threw me a datapad from across the marine quarters. I caught it in my hand. "The fuck is this, Chicken?" "Just read it, man!" I snorted, and looked down at the datapad in my hand. I read it out loud. "'Akuze colony goes missing!'" Chicken came over to me. "You think we're being deployed there? I mean, we already missed out on the Skyllian Blitz..." I looked up at him. "Fuck yeah. Why else are we going there?" He laughed, and smacked me on the back.

It's been over 3 years since I became an N1. Since then, Tex and I have been on so many different worlds, survived so many situations that both of us are N6s now. We've been embeddeed in the 103rd Marines, promoted to 1st Lieutenants, and given our own squads. I lead a squad of combat engineers, consisting of Sergeant Thomas "Chicken" Cooper, Sergeant Yuri "Crazy Ivan" Donushevsky, Sergeant Grant "Lucifer" Petersen, and Corporal Chris "Tombstone" Toombs. These guys are like brothers to me, and we do everything together. A while back, they even bought me a new guitar, and it sounds absolutely amazing.

"Yo guys, Thor here thinks we're going to kill some pirates on Akuze!" The others looked in our direction. Crazy Ivan spoke up in his thick Russian accent. "Is that so?" Lucifer got out of his bunk. "We gonna kick some pirate ass, sir?" I glared at all of them while smiling. "If we _are_ going there, we'll kick enough pirate ass to last a lifetime!" The guys cheered. Tombstone came up to me. "Thor, what're pirates like? I heard you fought them to become an N1." I turned to Tombstone. "They're fucking barbaric, but they're nothing compared to a pissed Alliance marine!" Tombstone smiled. "Hell yeah, sir!"

The intercom sounded. It was Captain Reed. "Ladies and gentlemen, I'm sorry I've kept you all in the dark this long. I'm sure you've all heard that the colony on Akuze has gone dark. Command thinks it may be pirates, and that they're making another move, much like the Skyllian Blitz. Our job is to make sure that the civilians are safe, and the pirates are eliminated. There's been no ship on Akuze recently, so it's safe to assume that they're still on the planet. Marines, gear up. You're goin' planetside." The intercom cut out, and we started cheering. Chicken spoke up. "Thor was right, guys! Let's go get us some pirates!"

An hour later, we were all geared up and ready to go. We were waiting in the shuttles, waiting to kick some ass. Captain Reed came over my comms. "Shepard, I know you're an N6. This is your final test to become an N7, according to Command. You and your squad are being deployed with the rest of the troops to verify the structural integrity of the colony and hunt down any pirates if they're still there. Good luck. Reed out." I looked around at the rest of the squad. Chicken was tapping his foot and checking his rifle. He had a chicken egg painted on the right arm of his armor. Crazy Ivan was looking around, too. He had a massive Russian flag painted on the back of his armor, and a hammer and sickle on the side of his helmet. Lucifer was relaxing, and it was kinda easy to see that he was sleeping. He had a pitchfork painted on his left arm, and horns on his helmet. Tombstone stood next to me and was checking his rifle, too. He was newer than the rest of us, and had a small skull painted in the top right corner of his chestplate.

Captain Reed came over all of our comms. "Good luck, boys." We cheered, and the shuttle took off. Looking out the window, I saw that we were in Akuze's orbit. The system's sun was just coming over the planet. The fleet of shuttles was carrying 55 men, including myself. There were a total of 11 squads, including mine and Tex's. The shuttles began heading towards the planet's surface. I was pretty nervous, even though I've been through worse.

Eventually, we reached the atmosphere. We came through the clouds, and saw the colony below. The shuttle began to slow down, and we dismounted. The roaring of the shuttles around us filled the air, and we began moving towards the colony. The shuttles moved off, and the other marines began moving as one massive group.

Eventually, we all reached the colony. It was deserted, but all the buildings were intact. What the fuck happened here? Crazy Ivan came over the squad comms. "What do you think happened here, Thor?" I shook my head. "I have no fucking clue." I began to lead the guys out to the perimeter. Whatever took the colonists might come back, you know? I saw the others all in position and such, waiting for an attack. Then, the ground rumbled.

Crazy Ivan spoke over the comms. "You guys feel that?" The rumbling happened again. Tombstone spoke next. "I'm fuckin' scared, I don't know about you guys..." The rumbling got stronger, and over intersquad comms I heard the others being told to hold their ground. It was ominously silent for a moment, as we stopped too.

Then, the first... thing... burst out of the ground. It looked almost worm-like, with a massive mouth. Everyone was already shooting at it. Chicken opened comms. "What the _fuck_ is that thing?!" We were firing as many rounds as we could at the thing, but it just wouldn't go down. It swallowed a group of marines near us, and we started running away.

Over the intersquad comms, I heard screams, prayers, and many other things. More of those worm things popped up out of the ground, and we couldn't do anything about it. The others were getting slaughtered. Jesus, I hope Tex makes it out alive. He's already been through a lot already. We shot behind us as we ran, but as the other marines kept dying, the things focused more on us. One of them popped up right behind us, and Lucifer fell over. "Don't let these fuckers take me, man! DON'T-" He was cut off as he was swallowed by one of those things. I couldn't look back. More of them began popping up, and I nearly tripped. Tombstone caught me. "I ain't lettin' you die, Shep! Not today!" We kept running towards the forest nearby, but one popped up right in front of us. "FUUUUUUUUCK!" We tried to go around it, but it came down right on Chicken. Fuck, another man down. As the gunfire near the colony ceased, more of these things popped up near us. Tombstone fell over, and tried to get up. I saw one of those things about to come down on top of him. "Tombstone, NO!" He jumped forward, and his leg was ripped off by the thing. "AHHHHHH! FUCK!" I tried to run back to get him, but Crazy Ivan grabbed my arm. "We can't get him! He's dead already!" I looked back at Tombstone. "Don't fuckin' do this to me, Shepard! Please! I have a family to go home to!" Crazy Ivan was already pulling me away. "I'm sorry, Toombs. I'm so sorry." I could hear the hurt in his voice. "Please! Don't let them take me! Don't fucking leave me!" I could hear him crying over the comms. "Tell my mom I loved her..." The comms cut off. I couldn't bear it to look back.

Crazy Ivan and I reached the forest, and the worm things didn't follow us. We stopped and collapsed on the ground. I tore off my helmet, and slammed it on the ground. I tried to wipe away the tears already streaming from my face, but it was no use. I pounded my fist into the ground. "Why them? Why does it have to be them, and not me?" Crazy Ivan helped me up, and slapped me. "Shape up, Thor! Crying and bitching won't do anything to bring them back." I shrugged, and started pacing. "I guess you're right..."


	21. Chapter Twenty: Missing in Action

**Chapter 20: Missing in Action**

 _A few hours later_

I leaned against a tree while Crazy Ivan kept a look out, making sure that none of those things came back. We haven't talked in a few hours, mostly because we both need to let this soak in for a bit. Finally, I decided to talk. "Yuri, you got any idea what those things were?" He turned to me. "You ever heard of Thresher Maws?" I shook my head. "No. Are those...?" He nodded. "Da. Those are Thresher Maws. I've heard of them from other colonies, but I've never heard of them on forest worlds like this. Seems odd to me, but it's probably nothing." He turned back around, and kept watching. Goddamn am I tired. I began to drift off to sleep...

The comms sounded from my helmet. What the fuck? We haven't had any radio contact with anyone else since the Maw attack, and the _Stockholm_ hasn't responded to any of our evac requests. I put on my helmet. The message was very garbled and full of static, but I recognized Tex's voice. "To anyone left... holding out... center of colony. Wounded missing... unknown men... outside colony." I tried to respond to the message. "Tex, is that you?" There was no answer, only static. Eventually, the message closed. Dammit. I got up, and tapped on Crazy Ivan's shoulder. "We've got some survivors holding out in the colony. You wanna check it out." He looked at me like I was insane. "I'm not risking my life again, comrade, even for you!" I helped him up. "Listen. We gotta help as many of our comrades as we can. Remember, no man gets left behind." He sighed. "Alright, let's go."

We moved out of the forest. It was deep night, and it was extremely hard to see anything. We moved silently, so that we wouldn't wake up any Maws, you know? Eventually, we entered the colony itself. It was way too quiet.

"Check each building for them." Ivan nodded, and we split up to check the buildings. I checked room after room, only to find no sign of life. I was getting scared. What happened to Tex and his men? They should be here... Eventually, Crazy Ivan sounded over the radio. "Thor, I've found nothing here. Maybe-" The comms cut off. "Yuri? You there? What'd you find?" He didn't respond. Fuck! I ran over to where he was checking, and found nothing. Something was wrong, very wrong. I ran as fast as I could away from the colony, hoping that I wouldn't be taken away by whatever took Crazy Ivan away.

I came back to the camp extremely tired. I took out my combat knife, and carved Yuri's name into the tree where I had already carved Cooper's, Petersen's and Toombs'. A stared at their names for a while, before I felt a wave of sadness come over me. I started crying as hard as I could. Why am I alive, and they aren't? I should be with them. I punched myself as hard as I could in the face, and readied the knife in my hand. I can't forget them. I have to remember them. I have to mark myself, so that I'll remember them no matter what. I pointed the knife just above my right eye, and started cutting down. I skipped over the eye, and cut down my right cheek. There was blood dripping down everywhere, and using a spare medkit, I bandaged up that entire side of my face. This is my reminder. This is my mark of survival. I cried myself to sleep.

 _The next day..._

I woke up. It was morning, and my bandages were soaked in blood. I replaced them, and stretched a bit. I'm alone. There's no one else alive. How will I ever explain this to my superiors? I layed back down, and tried to rest again. My comms crackled again. I quickly put on my helmet. "This is SSV Stockholm to ground force. Status?" I fumbled to respond. "This is 1st Lieutenant Shepard. Everyone else is..." I couldn't bring myself to say it. "Repeat, Lieutenant." "Everyone else is dead." I started sobbing. "Roger. We'll send evac immediately, ETA 30 minutes. be prepared for pick up." I started nervously laughing. "Don't be down here too long. They'll come for you, too." The comms cut out.

I gathered the gear I had strewn about, and made my way to the edge of the forest. It was quiet, except for the sound of birds. I could only see out of my left eye because I had bandaged the entire right side of my face. I walked slowly down to the colony, and still found absolutely no sign of anyone. I paced around, and kept talking to try and deter anything. "Come out, come out wherever you are! I'll fucking cut you up so bad you'll beg for death!" Eventually, the roar of the shuttle came closer. I ran towards the LZ, and felt the rumbling again. Not again. No, not again. Don't die, Shepard. Don't die. The door to the shuttle opened, and the soldiers inside waved me inside. I jumped inside, and landed with a thunk on my back. Just as the door was closing, a Maw popped up near the shuttle. "NO! DON'T FUCKING LET THEM TAKE ME!" The mounted MG had already been readied, and they fired at the Maw. The door closed after some time, and we ascended into the sky.


	22. Chapter Twenty-One: The Voices

**Chapter 21: The Voices**

 _April 21st, 2177_

 _SSV Stockholm_

I haven't come out of the quarters since I came back. I've been thinking, playing guitar, etc. Whenever I try to think about leaving, though, I feel like something is holding me in here. Captain Reed is too nervous to let me out. From what I've heard, he thinks I'm "mentally unstable". Does he expect me to be fine after experiencing the deaths of 54 marines? I still hear them. Whenever I tried to rest, I hear them screaming at me. I can't get it out of my head. They scream at me to join them. I should be with them, but I'm not. I'm completely out of place.

There was a knocking on the door of the quarters. I was startled, and tried to answer it. But as I moved towards the door, the screaming intensified, and I collapsed to the ground, eventually breaking down and screaming as well. "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HEAD!" The door opened, and Captain Reed came in. He was guarded by a security team, armed with rifles and everything. He looked down at me, all curled on the ground and crying, and shook his head. Under his breath, I heard him say, "What did they do to you..." I looked up at him. "I'm sorry, sir." He crouched down next to me. "I can't help you unless you tell me what happened, Shepard. I'll help you in whatever ways I can-" I interrupted him. "You can't save me. There were 54 others down there that should be alive right now. They're still in my head." He shook his head again. "Shepard, I've gotta know what happened. Here, lay down on your bunk." He helped me up, and I layed down on the bunk. "What do you want to know?" He sighed, and looked around for a moment. He waved the security team out.

"What happened down there on Akuze, Shepard?" I breathed deeply. The voices can't interrupt me while I'm doing this. "54 men were slaughtered." Captain Reed nodded. "Yes, I understand that. But what exactly happened?" I breathed in again. I was already hearing them. "We landed, and when we got there it... it happened..." I broke down, and started crying. Captian Reed patted me on the back. "It's ok, Shepard. Go on." I composed myself again. "The Thresher Maws were everywhere. They were killing everyone. I lost everyone except for Crazy Ivan." I took another deep breath so I wouldn't break down again. "Later, Tex came over the comms. He was holding out in the colony, apparently. Crazy Ivan and I went to investigate, but we found them gone. Then he disappeared too, and I got the fuck out of there." Reed was looking away. "Shepard, I'm sorry we couldn't get you guys out of there earlier. Any idea who might've taken Tex and Crazy Ivan?" I shook my head. "Alright, Shepard. I've gotta tell this to Command. We're going back home, so get some rest." I started shaking. "Hurry, please. I can already hear them calling for me." Reed left in a hurry, and I was left alone again.

 _April 23rd, 2177_

 _Alliance Psychiatric Recovery Center, New York_

Yesterday we returned to Earth, and I was sent here to "recover". How am I supposed to recover? I still hear the voices. They tried to keep me on the ship, despite the soldiers dragging me off. I screamed as hard as I could to drown them out, but it wouldn't work. They drugged me, and now here I am in a padded room, straightjacket and everything. I've tried resting, but I can't. They're still in every dream I have, accusing me of living.

I was startled by the door opening. Two soldiers stepped in, and so did two others who I didn't recognize. One of them was an Admiral, the other looked like a doctor. The Admiral spoke first. "Lieutenant Shepard, I'm sorry for what happened on Akuze. There was no way for any of us to know that there were Thresher Maws down there." I looked up at him. His hair was greying. He had a white beard, and a scar from his right cheek to his chin. "Allow me to introduce myself. I'm Admiral Hackett, and this is Doctor Kingsley. He'll be helping you recuperate for the next few months." The Doctor bowed slightly. "Shepard, I have some good news for you. You've successfully passed the final test for the N7 Program. From now on, you're officially an N7. Congratulations." Admiral Hackett left the room, and the soldiers filed out. Another doctor came in. Dr. Kingsley spoke to me. "Lieutenant, I've been hired as your psychologist by the Alliance. It seems that you've got a few people higher up the chain interested in you." I remained silent. I looked up at him. "Am I getting out of here or not, Doc?" Kingsley laughed. "Of course. I've already got the paperwork approved. From now on, you'll be staying on the other end of the center with me." The other doctor came over, and took the straightjacket off of me. My arms were sore. "Come with me. Let's get started as soon as you can, so you can get back into service as soon as possible." I walked with him out of the room. Getting me back into the service? More like giving me more reason to kill myself...

 _May 30th, 2177_

"Alright Lieutenant, we're making some good process. What do these voices say?" I layed my head back, and turned my head to look out the window. I've been through nearly a month of sessions with Doctor Kingsley in this room. He's got a couch near his desk, which I always find comfortable. It feels like my bunk, almost. I guess that's why.

I sighed. "They scream at me. Order me to join them. At night, when I sleep, I scream back. But they don't answer. It only happens during the day." He nodded, and typed into his computer. "So-" The door slammed open. Security was trying to hold back reporters the best they could. One of them turned his head to us as he pushed a reporter back. "I'm sorry, sir! They kept begging to get through, and now they're trying to get through by force!" He shoved another one back. They pushed over the security guard, and swarmed into the room. A crowd of reporters surrounded me. They all started asking me questions all at once. It was too overwhelming. I could hear the screams again. Then, Doctor Kingsley yelled above all of them. "ENOUGH!" He stormed over. "What in God's name do you think you're doing?!" The reporters silenced. "Have some dignity for Lieutenant Shepard! He's been to hell and back, and you don't have the courtesy to let him rest! Get the hell out of my office! NOW!" He pointed furiously at the door, and the reporters slowly left. When they were all gone, he sighed, and slumped over his desk. I got up. "You ok, Doc?" He waved me off. "I'm fine, I'm fine... rude bastards..." I shrugged. "I could've handled them." "No, no... from what I've gotten out of you, you'd just start screaming and become unstable again. I can't let that happen." He's right. I'd just try and kill them all if they kept going. I layed back down on the couch, and looked out the window at the streets below.


	23. Chapter Twenty-Two: Ghost

**Chapter 22: Ghost**

 _August 17th, 2182_

 _SSV Belgrade_

I looked out the window of the marine quarters at the planet below. You could see some explosions from up here in orbit. It's been over 5 years since the "Disaster on Akuze", as the media deemed it. I was released to active duty again after 2 years of therapy, and the media hasn't stopped interviewing me since. "The Lone Survivor", they loved to call me that. I don't think it's right though. I feel like Tex is alive out there somewhere. It gives me a little strength, feeling like I'll see him again someday, even if it's highly unlikely.

I sat around for 3 years doing absolutely _fucking_ nothing, except look good for the media. Command said I was fit to fight again, but I don't think they actually believed it. I was assigned to the 103rd again a few weeks ago, and I feel like everyone's avoiding me. Probably because they think I'll go psycho on them, or that I'm an N7. But the voices stopped years ago, so there's no way I'd hurt them.

I could tell that the others were talking about me across the quarters. They were pointing at me, and looked real scared. The intercom sounded. "Lieutenant Commander Shepard, report to the briefing room. Admiral Hackett is waiting for you." Oh shit. Is he gonna explain why I'm going to New Athens with the peacekeeping force? I left the quarters as everyone watched me leave.

I came up to the briefing room, and found Admiral Hackett waiting at the table for me. "Ah, Shepard. I've been waiting. Hopefully you understand the situation on New Athens." "Yes, sir." A few weeks ago, separatists began an uprising in New Athens, one of humanity's larger colonies. They've seized the colony, and defense forces have already got it under siege. Marines are being sent with pretty much everything to clean it up. Hackett began pacing. "Shepard, we've got an opportunity that we can't miss. We've got a high value target that, if eliminated, could force the separatist forces to surrender." He sent a picture to my omnitool. I checked it, and it honestly didn't surprised me. A Batarian. I looked back up at Hackett. "Name?" "Let's just call him 'Brain'. According to reliable sources, he'll be meeting some of his human allies at the following coordinates." He sent the coordinates to my omnitool. I checked them, and marked them on a map that I had loaded up. It was at a crossroads near the center of town. "Why don't you just air strike the place?" Hackett sent another thing to me. "The problem is that they've got a ballistic shield in place. Anything we drop on them is going to be rendered ineffective." I looked back up at him. "When am I being dropped in?"

 _New Athens_

The shuttle dropped me off on the ruins of a bombed out house. I looked up, and watched it fly back into the sky. Before I climbed down into the abandoned street below, I heard someone behind me. I drew my pistol, and aimed towards them. "Did you miss me, Shepard?" I was surprised. "Tex?!"

He was sitting in an old chair across the room. He laughed, got up, and came over to me. He came into moonlight so that I could see him clearly. Holy shit. He looked pretty fucked up. Scratches and dirt all over his face, dents in his armor, all of that made me pretty suspicious. "What the fuck happened to you, Tex?" He waved me off. "Long story. Come with me." We dropped through the hole in the wall onto the street. We drew our weapons, and began proceeding towards the target.

"I know why you're here, Thor." I looked over at him as we moved into the next house. "Why, then?" We came back out on the street. "You're looking for _him_ , right? The one who started all of this? That's why I'm here, too." "How do you even know that?" "I have my ways." There was a commotion down the street. We stopped, and I took cover behind some rubble. "I have somewhere else to be, I'll see you shortly." He disappeared into the alley. "Tex, wait!" I ran after him. He was gone.

I took cover again, and saw that there was a massive group of separatist militia moving down the street. Even if I wanted to fight them, there was no way that I'd win. I ran down the alley, and kept moving towards the target, avoiding combat as much as possible.

Eventually, I came to the roof of a building at the crossroads. I had already placed remote mines there, and was waiting for the target to come along. How did Tex know I was here? I heard cars park at the crossroads, and saw the target meet with someone at the center of the crossroads. They were talking about something. "Now." Tex whispered in my ear. I blew the mines, and took down the target as well as his bodyguards.

"Admiral, this is Shepard. Target eliminated, waiting for extraction." "Copy that, Shepard. Sending a shuttle to get you." I turned to face Tex. "I actually need to know how the fuck you know I'm here. I'm scared man." He laughed. "Are you sure I'm actually here?" I turned away, and looked at the street. "Well..." I turned back, and there was nothing there. Fuck. Was he never really there? Is he actually dead, and what I saw was nothing more than a hallucination? The shuttle came down, and I climbed inside.


	24. Chapter Twenty-Three: Normandy

**Chapter 23: Normandy**

 _August 18th, 2182_

 _Briefing Room, SSV Belgrade_

"Commander, taking out that Batarian really sped up our progress down there. The ballistic shield's already offline, and large groups of separatists are surrendering. Killing him saved a lot of lives. Congratulations." I saluted. "Thank you, sir." I turned to leave, but he stopped me. "Shepard, there are a couple things I need to talk to you about." He slid a datapad across the table, and I picked it up. I took a close look at it. It was my mission report, with the part where I mentioned Tex highlighted.

"Shepard, was Lieutenant Luddington with you?" I nodded. "Yes, sir. Did you send him with me?" He shook his head. "He's been listed as KIA since Akuze. Are you sure you're ok?" I felt like I was sweating, and the blood drained from my face. I felt dizzy, and I began hearing the voices. I composed myself. "Yes, sir." Hackett raised his eyebrow. "You look like you need some rest. Go back to the quarters and get some rest, I'll tell you the other thing later." "Yes, sir." I left the briefing room in a hurry.

 _2250 Hours_

 _Marine Quarters, SSV Belgrade_

I woke up in a cold sweat. The nightmare was back, and it was only worse. The voices were accusing me of failing everyone, of failing the galaxy, and failing to prevent the end. The whir of machines, the screams of many species. It was too much to handle. I wiped the sweat away, and got dressed. What did Admiral Hackett need to talk to me about again?

I came up to the bridge, and found the Captain waiting for me. "Ah, Commander. I've got Admiral Hackett on the horn. He left a while ago. I'll leave you two alone." The Captain left, and I was alone with the comms. His voice came over the comms. "Commander, I hope you're feeling better." "Yes, sir." There was a moment of silence. "Commander, I'm not sure if this is good or bad news, but you're being transferred out of the Marines and into the Navy."

I was shocked. Why? Why me? Why was I being transferred out? "Sir, why?" "It was a decision made by those higher up the chain. You see, the Alliance has been working on a secret project the last few months. We've been cooperating with the Turians to create an advanced stealth cruiser." "And why am I needed, sir?" There was a pause. "Captain Anderson requested that you be his XO." Captain David Anderson? THE David Anderson? Goddamn. I've really got the attention of those higher than me. "But sir, why? I have no experience commanding a ship." His voice raised slightly, "You have a certain quality of leadership that just _makes_ people want to follow you, Shepard. You're a born leader. And after what you went through on Akuze, Anderson knows that you have a quality of survival, too. He was particularly interested in that, I recall." Oh. I guess I shouldn't question him any more. "Thank you, sir. When do I ship out?"

 _December 19th, 2182_

 _Docking Bay X1, Arcturus Station_

I've been waiting on Arcturus Station for months now for Captain Anderson to come by. He was busy with something "classified", they told me. They told me that once he returned, I'd be getting a tour of the new ship, and he'd officially make me his XO. Dandy.

I've been looking out the window for some time now. I haven't seen the ship at all yet. It's been concealed, mostly so that spies wouldn't see it and take any sort of information about it. The tramway to the actual docking bay where it was was locked down until the ship was ready.

I heard the guards behind me come to attention. "Ten-hut!" I turned around, and there he was. Captain David Anderson. I saluted. "Sir?" He smiled, and laughed. "Relax, Commander. Pleased to meet you." I eased myself, and shook his hand. "I heard about Akuze. I'm sorry for your loss." I shook my head. "It's nothing sir, and I won't let it influence me." He looked around for a bit. "The Turians are supposed to be here soon. I mean, this is, in part, their ship too, so they wanted to inspect it themselves."

I saw the Turian inspectors come from the other end of the bay. They greeted us as they came over. "Captain Anderson? Commander Shepard?" Anderson nodded, and smiled. "Glad you could make it. The ship is almost ready." He turned to me. "Are you ready for this, son? This is a dangerous assignment." I smiled. "Hell yes, sir."


	25. Thanks!

**Thanks!**

 _Thank you for following Commander Shepard's story so far! If you liked it, I recommend starting to read the next book, "A Test of Will", a retelling of Mass Effect 1 from Shepard's perspective. Thank you again, and have a nice day!_


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